Whimpering Back at You
Hailing from the Netherlands, Junkie XL has quickly garnered a reputation in electronic music circles as one of the industry’s most prolific freelance artists. The entirety of Western civilization can claim familiarity with his remix of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation” for a Nike 2002 World Cup commercial, with the vast bulk of his work found in the scores of popular video games. As such it comes as little surprise that JXL (as he is commonly called) is signed to Artwerk Records, a subsidiary of game maker Electronic Arts.As the artist’s second album, Booming Back at You finds itself in a quandary, with JXL trying to make a distinction between his roles as a remixer and as an artist. The aggression in the album’s title suggests that Junkie has something to prove to fans and the music industry alike: his credibility as a musician. In this regard he does not succeed.
JXL takes too many cues from the club and studio DJs he works to emulate. One detects lingering traces of Benny Benassi on “New Toy” with the use of disjointed blips and whirs that lack Benassi’s carefully cultivated mischievous promiscuity. “More” is a throbbing Chemical Brothers-inspired sound whose witless vulgarities may find a home on the dance floor of Fabric but doesn’t hold a candle to big beat anthems like The Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up.” All told, Booming Back at You is a typical addition to any forgettable dance party.
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