Punknews.org
June - The June EP (Cover Artwork)

June

June: The June EPThe June EP (2004)
The Vinyl Summer

Reviewer Rating: 2.5


Contributed by: greg0rbgreg0rb
(others by this writer | submit your own)
If you like Taking Back Sunday, you will like these guys. That's all you need to know, because you've all made up our mind on that style of music. I know a lot of bands sound like TBS these days, but these guys REALLY sound like TBS, and June does the sound well. Victory recently signed these guy.
iTunesAmazon


If you like Taking Back Sunday, you will like these guys. That's all you need to know, because you've all made up our mind on that style of music. I know a lot of bands sound like TBS these days, but these guys REALLY sound like TBS, and June does the sound well. Victory recently signed these guys, so go figure. They also sound like Fall Out Boy, but really them and TBS are pretty much one and the same too.

They've got it down: catchy vocals with dark (often heart broken) lyrics and tight vocal harmonies including sometimes two vocal lines going at once, all over top of music that alternates from diving beats to breakdowns, and it's all emo-licious, assuming that suits your palate. These guys decided to take out the screaming, which was just getting a bit silly with some bands anyway, so good for them. These Chicagoans sure nailed the formula despite that they've only been together a short time and they are all barely drinking age.

This five-song EP is full of flawless musicianship, high quality production and songs that you could swear you've heard before. Opener "Our Escape" starts it off acoustic but just for a second, launching into the standard emo fare, with lyrics about some sort of life-or-death escape tale. "OK Corral" has a little harder feel to it, more like Thursday, even with something like their Cure-influenced lighter sections, alternating with the harder sections. And with lyrics like "My head to fill your crosshairs / your head to fill my crosshairs" sung with such a hook sounds an awful lot like Fall Out Boy. "You Had It Coming But This Time You're A Dead Man"…gotta love (or hate) titles like that, but it happens to be the name of the best track on here. It has a super driving, fist pumping chorus with the catchy lines "Find the hall, make the call, save the girl or let her fall to her creation / You will see, I'll turn the tables back around in this penitentiary."

I do feel this sound is a bit stale, already popularized by the bands above and now copied straight-up by a lot of others, so that results in a lowered score for this review. But June do it well enough to warrant some points; they write a good hook and they have enough variety musically to not be a carbon copy. Some people may really dig this.

Perhaps you were put off a little by Where You Want to Be and want the old lineup back, or maybe you love Take This to Your Grave and are looking for the next up-and-coming Chicago heartthrobs. Then check out June on purevolume because this whole EP is up there, and then wait for the Victory full-length due in the spring.

 

 
People who liked this also liked:
Aiden - Nightmare AnatomyI Am Ghost - Lovers' RequiemAtreyu - The Best Of [CD/DVD]

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
  • Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
  • Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
  • Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
  • Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.
Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.
TheCrimson219 (July 5, 2007)

I just downloaded this it isn't bad I like June I don't like Taking back sunday I think June is way better but anyway good review

arturoroxmysox (August 30, 2005)

pretty good stuff from these guys..not bad..but not amazing...a good, solid start.

crossmyheartx (December 16, 2004)

"Every single band on this site gets shit talked, you all need to smile or something, what the hell do all of you listen to anyway? Another Damn Dissapointment? Nelly? Nickelback?

You're all depressed kids that tried starting a band and it didn't work out. Congrats for being the true badasses of the internet."

I love you.

Anonymous (December 3, 2004)

cover is kinda cool. but yeah after read the first sentence it's over.

greg0rb (December 3, 2004)

No, they were indeed called Drive Like June before... says so in their bio I got.
-Greg

Anonymous (December 3, 2004)

The band actually named themselves after Johnny Cash's wife, assholes.

Anonymous (December 2, 2004)

i love this band!!!

Anonymous (December 2, 2004)

They used to be called Drive Like June. I guess someone along the way told them about a little band called Drive Like Jehu.

sickboi (December 2, 2004)

Then stop being so fucking cliche'. Christ, any moron should know by now that this month-band name shit is getting old. Its one thing when you do it and sound COMPLETELY different than everyone else (i.e. a polka-metal band with horns called December Dash is acceptable), but when you call yourself JUNE and sound like all those other bands, screw that. And don't try to tell me that the word "June" has some deep meaning, unless your mom, dog, girl and car all died in that month.

Anonymous (December 2, 2004)

Actually we're all just mad that everybody shit-talks our bands when we have news and reviews posted about us. This score is for my band.

sickboi (December 2, 2004)

I have a girlfriend, lots of interests and a good job. I post at work when I have the time, and sometimes if I'm working on my PC at home. People can have an opinion, and it doesn't have to agree with yours. I praise plenty of bands, but I also call a spade a spade.

Anonymous (December 2, 2004)

you're all dorks who need a girlfriend or hobby. puds.

Anonymous (December 2, 2004)

yeah coompletely agree with last comment. they are jsut bitter that their band isn't there. all these damn high school kids need to stop making music, at least this band has a sound. too many lame bands out there and this isn't one of them. IT IS TRENDY TO START A BAND

Anonymous (December 2, 2004)

Every single band on this site gets shit talked, you all need to smile or something, what the hell do all of you listen to anyway? Another Damn Dissapointment? Nelly? Nickelback?

You're all depressed kids that tried starting a band and it didn't work out. Congrats for being the true badasses of the internet.

Anonymous (December 1, 2004)

This score is for Counting Crows. It is also for the Punchline cover of 'Round Here, which does complete justice to the original while still bringing a catchy pop punk flavor. I haven't heard the tribute record and will probably hate it based on the roster of bands, but I think it's cool that someone made the effort.

Anonymous (December 1, 2004)

ANY band that has a month or season in their name is going to suck. Guaranteed....Oh and check out my new band. Its called October Memories

www.betwseptandnov.com

Anonymous (December 1, 2004)

then you took the time to brag about it. wtf

Anonymous (December 1, 2004)

I DONT EVEN LIKE MUSIC!!

The score is for stars.

sickboi (December 1, 2004)

*label

sickboi (December 1, 2004)

What a lame-ass lable name....

I checked their website and they have "an indie tribute to the Counting Crows". Fuck dat. The only good thing about that band was the SAS cover of "Angels of the Silences".

Anonymous (December 1, 2004)

i agree with the gay comment...fag shit.

ringston (December 1, 2004)

ok i just listened to this band on www.purevolume.com. they describe their sound as rock/indie. what a load of crap. pure volume has such large amounts of this music that they need to create 2 new categories... generic, and unoriginal. then this band could be put where they belong. under generic/unoriginal/emo/pop.

Anchors (December 1, 2004)

June is so played out.

If I had a knife for every day/week/month band that comes out playing the same style, we'd no longer have a problem, because they'd all be dead.

I still do listen to Thursday occasionally, but honestly, I hate them for the trend they started.

Anonymous (November 30, 2004)

These lungs are made for breathing!

laaaame

Anonymous (November 30, 2004)

This shit is flat out garbage. They make don't look down look like the beatles. oh no, they're both gay...forget it.

swingline (November 30, 2004)

fuck tbs, fuck fallout boy, fuck the spill canvas, fuck my chemical romance, fuck matchbook romance, FUCK YOU AND YOUR DADDY

joeg (November 30, 2004)

i stopped reading after the 1st sentence.

Exclusive Streams

see more streams

Sponsored Events

Skate and Surf Festival

Pouzza Festival

Scene Music Festival

Newest Reviews

see more reviews

Punknews.org Team

Other Places to Go