The Sound
Jeopardy

It is a scorching hot day in July, Summer 2019. Soon I would finally leave for Los Angeles with my best friend, as we were both in love with the music and film industry; we are both 17 years old with a constant desire to discover new things, especially when it comes to art. Shortly before leaving for Los Angeles, at the end of the last evening of work with my father to afford the trip, I find a very old vinyl in the house storeroom. I wasn’t surprised, I have always listened to music in analog; this one, however, was something special. The cover featured two black and white faces of a man and a woman: the interesting aspect is that it’s hard to tell if the two figures are blindfolded or if the dark strip over their eyes is simply a shadow. The cover simply meets the standards of a good late 70s new wave record. At the same time, Jeopardy by The Sound is much more than a “good record.” I secure it from the omnipresent dust of the basement and head to my favorite home spot: the turntable and my beloved AR speakers from ‘76. I place the record on the platter, after a few seconds, “I Can’t Escape Myself” begins. The production style and minimal arrangements, combined with Borland's guitars, make the English group undoubtedly stand out for originality in the post-punk scene. I perceived The Sound’s songwriting as the darkest but at the same time hopeful I had ever dealt with, a trait that would reappear during the listening of the second album. The skillful use of keyboards in “Heartland” is what causes me goosebumps the first time. Listening to vinyl had influenced my experience, due to the constant rustle of a partially ruined record, which at the same time gained more charm. The devastating melancholy of “Unwritten Law” and “Missiles” and the explicit and honest lyrics are still the factors that convince me to consider the first album by Borland and company a masterpiece, probably among the best records of the 80s. You hear the punk and even rockabilly influences of a now-disappeared 50s/60s music scene. Besides being an incredible record from a compositional point of view, it is also from a sonic perspective: it is not overly compressed (like The Cure albums) and is excellently mixed. I put the record back in the sleeve, prepare the last things, and head to Los Angeles, with “something extra” in my heart.