A lot of what’s heard in Juxt is the pulsing thump of a kick drum, atmospheric synths and that sequenced ‘clickty-clickty-clickty’ percussive noise, which clicks along on Reznor & Atticus Ross OSTs urgently. Allen sings and wails over his record with a distorted filter placed on his voice, squashing his vocal into a tight box within the mix.
When does copying something to get started simply become copying? When does a starting formula for a musician or any artist become a creative hook? Mike Allen clearly worships Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross clearly worship Ministry and Skinny Puppy. When and where is it fair to suggest that they in turn imitated what came before and what came before had to imitate something before? Do you see the cycle here?
It’s a delicate topic and one that is the big elephant in the room when discussing Mike Allen’s Juxt–it’s a well produced and carefully crafted fifth album, made in the same vein as the tense and industrial sound found in NIN & Reznor’s work, yet it sounds precisely like what came before it. It’s another release which sounds like its heroes. It’s a carbon copy. Except it isn’t. Of course it isn’t, it’s been made by Mike Allen and is an amazing production. You can see how difficult it is to weigh up judgment here.
A lot of what’s heard in Juxt is the pulsing thump of a kick drum, atmospheric synths and that sequenced ‘clickty-clickty-clickty’ percussive noise, which clicks along on Reznor & Atticus Ross OSTs urgently. Allen sings and wails over his record with a distorted filter placed on his voice, squashing his vocal into a tight box within the mix. It makes his voice appear as if he his stretching notes every time he sings. As if he is shouting and screaming as a lyric is sung.
What I believe is happening here is that his vocal performance is quite gentle and this squeezing effect boosts his voice so much that we get distorted attenuation. It’s an issue, one that may appear negative if Mike Allen’s goal was to create a thick and powerful image of an edgy and industrial voice, embodied by Reznor. Allen sounds gentle in comparison, really letting his filters do most of the work. The key difference is that you can feel Reznor screaming in his tracks, but Allen definitely does not—and it sounds as if Allen definitely wants too. On the other hand it does set Allen’s voice slightly apart—something which should be embraced by folks listening to this skill smith.
A standout track is difficult to find here–Juxt as a whole is far more lasting in its individual moments. Opener “The Conversation…” has a huge instrumental progression in the middle of it, with a piano striking notes and a bass maintaining a rhythm. “It’s Not Me, It’s You” has a tasty guitar riff as it beings, with solid vocal work laid over it (Allen’s voice is most controlled and comfortable here).”Watering The Weeds” is a dub/deep-house experiment, with industrial noises layered across the mix. “The Illusion Of Worth” feels like Squarepusher’s Shobaleader One material. It’s definitely Mike Allen’s strongest point. The track rolls along with a big 4/4 thud, accompanied with blistering guitar chords, chugging in and out with an analogue 90s-era chunkiness.
So yes, even these finer highlights are damning with faint praise—you can tell when Allen’s not quite convincing behind the microphone, or that imitating NIN feels uncomfortable, or just how a deep-house track ended up on this industrial electro record. Yet, these are forgivable mishaps from a very brave effort made with stunning moments.
Imitating Reznor’s work is not easy and hats off to Mike Allen, he’s done that—so well in fact, it’s made his own work seem lacking in creativity. What you can take from this is an impressionable record from an incredibly talented producer. When we see past the similarity of what Allen’s made, this is a detailed and magnificent experiment.
Juxt is available on Sun Sea Sky.
