Junkie XL

If his goal was to make an album that feels as good as it sounds, mission accomplished for Tom Holkenborg. The one-man band/production team/live force most-widely recognized as Junkie XL has delivered an electro-charged colossus with Booming Back At You, a 12-track surge of high-octane breaks, turbo-charged beats and red hot, infectious energy. Highlighting an array of vocalists as diverse as the album's tracks, Lauren Rocket [of Fox TV's The Next Great American Band finalist Rocket] sexes up the full-body slam of "More" with a lascivious twist, Tommy Vext [formerly of extreme metal outfit Divine Heresy] punches through the hard-driving pulse of opening track "Booming Right At You," and Willoughby and Nicole Morier [Electrocute] lend a more refined and dignified dance air to "Not Enough."

Big beats are broken up by Steve Aoki's terse vocal blasts on "1967 Poem," Electrocute reappears to propel the sultry vocal swagger of "Mad Pursuit," and Junkie takes it solo on the rapid ascent and reverberations of the Gary Glitter, "Rock & Roll Part II"-flavored "Clash." But on an album of standout tracks, the biggest is a run through Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Cities in Dust" that wraps Rocket's vocals around Junkie's adrenaline rush of a rework. "Rock more, roll more…" sings Rocket on "More." Booming Back At You accomplishes that–And more.

—Paul Gargano
05.09.08

It's hard to figure out what's more delicious, the idea of Junkie XL being the flagship artist of Artwerk -- the label launched by video game giant Electronic Arts -- or the shameless cover of "Cities in Dust" included on Booming Back at You, the dance producer's debut for the label. The latter takes Siouxsie and the Banshees' goth rock tale of ancient Pompeii residents being smothered in lava and turns it into a whip-cracking floor-filler with a booming drumbeat and vocalist Lauren Rocket replacing Siouxsie's ironic "my friend" with a kick-ass "yeah!" If that sounds dreadful, you probably won't like the other highlight with Rocket, "More," where the singer rallies all hedonists with "Rock more/Roll more/Fuck more/Pac-Man is loving it." Musically, Junkie is as reliable and unoriginal as a video game music composer should be, as he skillfully brings a world where big beat never died into the modern age where the revivalist electro of Benny Benassi and such reigns supreme. Exciting Fatboy Slim-inspired floor-fillers rule and are rounded out by a couple of quirky numbers like the weirdo noir "Mad Pursuit" and "Zage," which sounds like Kraftwerk's gear misfiring. Add "No Way" -- which playfully acknowledges Junkie's video game forefathers with some classic Namco-styled tones -- and that's it for stunners, with the rest of the album fading into a background suitable for caffeine-fueled LAN parties or clubs where chic and tacky coexist. Not enough to raise him above "the guy who remixed Elvis" and no great disappointment either. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi