Junior Boys, Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus, are huddling into a deserted Italian restaurant on the outskirts of NYC’s Chinatown called The Grotto.
It’s horribly cramped inside, offering a tiny, narrow space framed with oppressive dark wood walls, shiny brass-trimmed portholes and creepy dim lamps shaped like ghostly porcelain ladies. The outside deck, however, is pleasantly roomy: Tall green shrubbery—a Manhattan rarity—manages to eclipse the gritty surrounding apartments. The Bee Gees’ “Staying Alive” buzzes faintly through fist-sized speakers.
Like most electronic artists, Greenspan and Didemus don’t look famous. Their 2004 debut, Last Exit, was released to gushing critical acclaim; they’re currently promoting their sophomore follow-up, So This Is Goodbye. (“We can’t keep this closure idea for the title going forever,” Greenspan observes. “Otherwise we’re gonna have to call our third album I’m Dead”). Greenspan, a stocky guy with a red, bushy beard, …