Soulwax
Leave The Story Untold

THE REVIEW

To tell the truth, there was already a review of this album, but it was almost completely overlooked, so I'm bringing it back to you, hoping it will be clicked more than the other one. This "Leave The Story Untold" is the first album by Soulwax. I intend to spare you discussions like "now with this DJ stuff, they really suck," which would only lead to heated and pointless debates. Instead, I would like to draw your attention to this record, which in my opinion has a lot to say.

So, the "Intro". For some, it serves to get the listener into the mood of the album, while for others, it can be safely tossed aside. I'm among the latter. So, after the pointless 36-second introduction, we start with "Reruns". From the left speaker first and then from the right, you hear the guitar perfectly emulating the sound of Formula 1 cars racing at 300 km/h before being engulfed by a powerful riff that then softens to make room for an acoustic chorus. One of the best. It is followed by "Caramel," an idyll of synthesizers now sharp, now sweet like caramel accompanied by an acoustic guitar.

Not to drag it out too long, the album's formula consists of an alternation between decently powerful rock tracks and much more relaxed ballads. Among the explicitly rock songs, to highlight " Kill Your Darlings," "Soul Simplicity" (which in its slower parts seems to evoke " Creep" by Radiohead), and "The About It Song," which starts with a series of surprisingly pleasant distortions and pre-concert-like chords. On the other hand, for the more relaxed tracks, I would mention "Great Continental Suicide Note," "Tales Of A Dead Scene," and the Californian "Rooster" (the record was produced in Los Angeles, maybe that's why it reminds me of California) that doesn't shy away from some electric guitar parts which, although slow, are quite hard.

The band's more instrumental aspect emerges in the last songs "Long Distance Zoom" and "Vista Grande", where guitarist David Dewaele tries his hand at the role of experimenter (not succeeding, in my opinion). The "seal" is "Acapulco Gold", which is probably meant to be a sonic recap of the entire work: beginning with a crescendo, a rock-like chorus, and an acoustic interlude. All in all, it fits well.

Broadly speaking, this is "Leave The Story Untold". If you expect to find the electro-rock of "Any Minute Now," you're off track. If you expect to find the deadly riffs of "Much Against Everyone's Advice," you're already more on the right path, but here the sound is much rougher. Ah.. I almost forgot: if you like "Nite Version," here we're really on another planet.