Divergent Chaos: Alex Ridha better known as Boys Noize lays it on thick with his fourth studio album. Somehow managing to have stayed out of the mainstream since the release of his first LP in 2007, the leader of the Tekno-Noize-Posse brings it just as hard as ever with Mayday.

Gifted with a knack for sonically weaving his own techno and acid roots with contemporary electronic zeitgeist, Mayday’s selection feels just as at home in the 90s underground scene as it does in today’s festival circuit. The album appropriately starts off with “Overthrow”, a slow building record that transitions into an orgy of 303 acid-like goodness. On “Dynamite” Boys Noize taps UK legend Benga to make a hard-hitting, bouncy track leaving you feeling concussed in the best way possible. We get a fresh take on Bob James’ often sampled Take Me To Mardi Gras, Boys Noize flexes his acid muscles once again giving the tired record new life with keeping the original very much intact.

One of my favorite records on Mayday comes in the form of “2 live”. The song begins with a slightly commercial vocal chorus “If you wanna go we can make it work…” yadda yadda yadda This song is sure to be a crown pleaser during live sets, as after the chorus the song takes a turn for the best divulging into an unexpected triumphant dance floor head-banger. “Would You Listen” harkens back to 2007’s Oi Oi Oi with a familiar disembodied voice distortedly belting out the title lyrics much to the chagrin of classic Boys Noize fans. “Starchild” provides a welcomed departure from the techno-flare that makes up most of the album serving as the producer’s foray into the indie world. Boys Noize teams up with Minneapolis’ group, Poliça, to create a track filled with subtle raw emotion and textured instrumental bliss. Running the gamut of the tempo spectrum “Los Niños” speeds things up with relentless dirty synths while “Birthday” featuring the mighty Hudson Mohawke and the always entertaining Spank Rock slows things down laying 808 drums over a future bass melody.

The only gripe I have with Mayday is the track “Hardkotzen.” It sounds like a German drum machine has become self-aware and decided that the human race is no longer in need of functioning ear drums. This may have been better suited as a Soundcloud one-off rather than making it onto the actual album.

In the end we all win. Boys Noize transported listeners back to a simpler time before EDM, before there were a million and one festivals, and before going to electronic shows was the cool thing to do. Now I’m going to go dust off my red jeans, my skinny moto jacket, and go wait in line at Cinespace praying my fake ID doesn’t get taken for the 2nd time this month all with Mayday as my soundtrack.