All this week, the Song of the Day highlights ACL Fest 2016 artists.
Michigan’s JR JR (formerly Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr) started as a pair of dudes recording indie-pop tunes in a basement, but have been garnering praise and building momentum from the moment their music left the house. Their sound has grown with their presence, with members Daniel Zott and Josh Epstein capitalizing on the number of layers that can be made between their synthesizers and their voices without ever moving away from their roots of creating music that is stuck-in-your-head-for-days catchy.
JR JR released “James Dean” on the 59th anniversary of the actor’s tragic death, highlighting Dean’s immortalization as a paragon of 1950’s cool. In the song, the narrator realizes too-little too-late that his obsession with Internet popularity has, as the trope goes, caused him to lose sight of his/her real life and the important people and relationships within it. “James Dean” is one of JR JR’s slower jams, but their ability to finesse a song of any tempo into a dance tune makes it a slow-burner that keeps you on your feet.
“James Dean” appears on Jr Jr, out now via iTunes.
Jr Jr plays ACL Saturday, October 8th from 1:30-2:30 on the Cirrus Logic Stage.
–Taylor Wallace // host, Saturdays 2-6 p.m., producer, SoundCheck and Eklektikos
