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Although Tom Jenkinson (AKA Squarepusher) is well versed in both jazz fusion and drumnbass, by the time the year 2008 has rolled around his restless creative spirit has left behind the confines of those two genres, as well as any other genre known to man. ‘Just a Souvenir’ uses elements from Jenkinson’s past as a jazzy drumnbassist, but also works in a plethora of other genres including disco, progressive rock, metal, computer game soundtracks, punky new wave and Japanese anima soundtracks. All of these musical styles are effortlessly woven together in songs that defy easy categorization and sound like something only Jenkinson could put together.
If there is one unifying factor to all of these songs it is this purposefully cheap and tacky overly digital production that would usually sound annoying, but works surprisingly well on this set of ultra-futuristic pop music. The drums in particular sound thin and plastic on purpose, like an 80s computer game, likewise a lot of the metal guitar work sounds like those early guitar samples that always sounded so obviously fake. All of this plastic sound is part of Jenkinson’s grand design for this album and just adds to its exotic appeal. I think there is also a lot of humor at work here, especially when the cheap tacky drums start working out furiously on a thrash beat.
This is an excellent album that defies easy description and also makes a case for Mr Jenkinson as one of the most original and independent musical minds of the new century. Like Sun Ra and Les Baxter from the previous century, Squarepusher fuses elements that most would not dare to combine. If there is ever a genre called drumnbass-progmetal-exotica, this album will be the first.
