Jonquil are a band from oxford and wear their literary on their sleeve. Not so necessarily shining through with their lyrics but you can imagine this is what they'd be listening to in oxford, pouring over books and hopefully not so with their tea, in the shade of a big oak tree. My imagination tends to run a little from time to time. They've even got a suitably clever and endearingly pretentious name - wikipedia says that: "Jonquil is the Spanish word for plants of the genus Narcissus" Wow they must be intelligent. What is really pleasing about them, and that is exactly what it is like when one is listening to them, is the simple simplicity of it, the rhythm flows along and the vocals are fluid as one. Their plethora of an assorted ensemble could take on Arcade Fire, and win. References that I can think of among their contemporaries would be Sheffield's Slow Club and definitely Grizzly Bear. But Jonquil are in their own right a lush meadow of wistfulness that would drag a nostalgic tear from any eye, without getting soppy about it. Favourite at the moment for me is "Whistle Low" but "Lions" is creeping up on me like time and tide and I'm not particularly worried about it either. Unfortunately I only have live versions but even then the I think their innocent charm redounds because of it, I can't imagine what they'd be like on record, but I'll be counting my coppers and waiting until I've got enough for their album "Lions" which was released October of last year, slow that I am.
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