Junior Varsity is an industry anomaly. The LA-based duo have never released a full track online – eluding streaming sites and Youtube, and only sharing their captivating music through snippets on their Instagram page. Having built up a dedicated fanbase and garnering attention from massive labels (they signed with Warner Music this year), they’ve simultaneously blown up while keeping a low profile. The group, while allowing us to get a sense of their sound, has never allowed us to fully immerse ourselves in it. That is, until now.

Junior Varsity’s first full-length release “Cold Blood” is the climactic release everyone has been waiting for. Comments on YouTube echo the same sentiment: “Well worth the two and a half year wait,” they all seem to read. The track itself is firey – evoking 90s alt-rock vibes with a vibrant modern flair. The hazy, lo-fi vocals encapsulate the group’s calm, cool, and collected aesthetic, paired with adrenaline-inducing drum beats and electrifying guitar riffs. It’s a song that brings you back. To what, exactly, I can’t quite pinpoint. “Cold Blood” conjures a sense of nostalgia for something I haven’t exactly experienced, and that’s okay. It embodies a state of being – one of nonchalance and living life for its simple enjoyment. The track, like life itself, is unpredictable, raucous, and incites a spark in the listener that’s hard to come by.

The duo’s vision is completed by the music video for the track, featuring chaotic shots of the group running across cow fields, rocking out in their living room, integrating themselves into the natural world, while other moments show them confining themselves to the safety of their homes. The group plays with themes of American mundanity and the freedom of straying against society, all while keeping their casually apathetic demeanor. I’m begging you to hop on the Junior Varsity bandwagon before they inevitably blow up.

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