JJ72 - What happened, where are they now?

I was speaking with a friend recently, asking them what I should write about on my blog, whether they would like to write something. Two days later they sent me a text "Get some JJ72 on your blog! Not new, but bloody brilliant..." followed by "That album carried me through the first year of Uni, and transformed my music taste from questionable dance / garage to the indie glory that is it today!" Can I just point out that it was probably meeting his now wife that actually did that (she already had good taste in music) and I cannot guarantee JJ72 will turn around musical tastes on their own.

After getting the text I looked in to what they are up to now, last time I heard they were working on their third album and I'd bought Coming Home and She's Gone, singles from said album, through iTunes. Well I'm sure it won't surprise you to hear they have split. They struggled getting the third album together, different sites stating that the record company was to blame, trying to push their creativeness to one side and be more like the first album.

The first album is a classic, I really enjoyed listening to it again (and again) when deciding what to write about them. So many tracks I could pick out for you, Oxygen and October Swimmer, both singles, Not Like Me, a lullaby-esq, less screechy track for those who don't like Mark Greaney's voice, and Algeria, possibly the only true sign that Greany's a big fan of Smashing Pumpkins (perhaps Long Way South but not to the same extent). Snow was actually their highest entry in the UK chart, slam dunking in at 21.

On the second album they didn't hit the highs as consistently, the two singles Formulae and Always and Forever are the only tracks I went back to after my recent listen to the album. I guess that's why the record company started to apply the pressure, I To Sky selling a fraction of the first album.

Most recent singles Coming Home and She's Gone showed promise of what was to come from the third never released album. They are still available on iTunes so I won't post them here, instead I'll give you a song or two from the albums. I'd certainly recommend buying the first album.

Mark Greany's now playing in Concerto For Constantine who sound a bit like Placebo and Smashing Pumpkins. On a last note I used to bore my friends by telling them that Mark had been told by his doctors that if he continued singing in the style he does that he would lose his voice. I secretly wanted to find that it was this reason for their split. Sadly it's not and now I can't remember where I heard that from.

MP3: Not Like You - JJ72

MP3: Formulae - JJ72