What's made JUNKIE XL one of Europe's
premiere Techno outfits is their seamless abililty to create
Dance music with a Rock feel. Unlike some Electronic acts
who add little scraps of guitar or Rock bands who incorporate
simple samples, Amsterdam's JUNKIE XL, with their phat beats,
Hip Hop flow and monster riffage, not only blur the lines
of live music and samples - they've literally set the standard
for all to follow.
JUNKIE XL's powerful debut album, 1997's SATURDAY TEENAGE
KICK, garnered rave reviews from the likes of SPIN (U.S.)
, DETAILS (U.S.) , SPEX (Germany), MUZIK (U.K.): "S.T.K.
isn't an underground album, it's pop, but you won't be able
to ignore it because this lot are going to be huge" and
more and successful tours with THE PRODIGY, GRAVITY KILLS
and PITCHSHIFTER. The heart and soul of JUNKIE XL is Tom Holkenborg,
best known for his remix work with ROADRUNNER bands like FEAR
FACTORY (Remanufacture) and SOULFLY. For 1999, JUNKIE XL unleashed
it's forceful follow-up, BIG SOUNDS OF THE DRAGS, a deep cerebral
fantasia of '70s Guitar Rock, physical breakbeats, classic
orchestration, and of course, Tom's dense, complex studio
production. This is a record he worked on for over a year
- and all the hard work has paid off. "During the evolution
of making tracks, I felt the need to add some warm sounds
to the album," Tom explains. "That meant more programming
and more live instruments. It adds more depth to the music.
I tried to find more variety between the tracks but also within
the tracks. I wanted slower songs with a laid back feeling,
combined with the fact that some of the aggressive songs on
this album are even more aggressive than ones on the first
album. It took me a long time to figure out how to do that."
The title BIG SOUNDS OF THE DRAGS is based upon touring across
the Atlantic and taking in that particularly American sport
of drag racing. "I really like drag racing cars because
they sound big, yet they're so... funny," Holkenborg
offers. "They look funny, and they only drive a couple
of hundred yards. They're so vulnerable, at a certain high
speed always ready to crash and burn. On this album, one side
has this big sound, and on the other, there's some beautiful
moments. I found this record in America of the sound of Drag
racing cars from the '60s, and I felt a connection with this
record." The drag racing theme is brought home on this
package by longtime JUNKIE XL collaborators Rod Chong &
Sharon Matarazzo (MEDIAKILL) and their futuristic/organic
cover art. But while visuals are nice, it's the music that
matters most, right Highlights of 'THE DRAGS' include the
straight-up breakbeat science of "Action Radius",
the ambient drug drone of "Zerotonine" and "Next
Plateau" with its mellow Hip Hop grooves with reversed/reverbed
guitar and vocals. Perhaps the best cut, the one that most
embodies the JUNKIE XL attitude, is "Power of Big Slacks",
a huge-sounding Punk anthem with heavy Dance rhythms and mad
crazy Pop hooks. "I've been listening to a lot of Pop
albums lately, especially from the '60s - stuff from The Byrds
and the Beatles and Pink Floyd - and you'll hear so many sounds
on those records that you just don't hear anymore in the '90s.
I'm a big fan of albums by Pavement and a Scottish band called
Mogwai, and what I really like is that there's so much warmth
in there. And that's what I've tried to do, in my own way."
Face it, JUNKIE XL is takin' it to anotha level. Will you
