Soul Wax serves diverse musical platter with
release
By Jason Kosareff
Daily Forty-Niner
Falling short of inspiration, Soul Wax
serves up a musical platter of rock and electronic sound for a tight blend
of different musical styles.
Elements of other bands, from Filter to
Flaming Lips to Duran Duran, permeate their new album "Much Against Everyone's
Advice."
The only thing that saves the albumfrom
cliche-dom is that the group pulls it off so damn well.
While weak in some areas, such as their
sometimes clumsy use of a drum machine, Soul Wax is clever enough to write
catchy hooks that draw you in.
Stephen Dewaele's vocals and lyrics overcome
the listener with their whimsicality and melody.
Dewaele's brother, David, co-writes the
lyrics and plays guitars.
Soul Wax's basic formula is this: catchy
acoustic pop songs over loops of electronic strings, distorted piano chords
and samples.
Soul Wax seems to have a taste for recreating
an '80s feel with the use of keyboards, though thankfully it is used subtly
and for the most part the album is contemporary.
The best thing "Much Against Everyone's
Advice" has going for it is the lyrics.
They are fresh, funny and tell stories
well-strung together.
Combined with Delwaele's pouting vocals,
the songs manage to capture the listener's attention despite their lack
of flare.
The albums title track, "Much Against Everyone's
Advice," is a crack up.
The Delwaele brothers know how to turn
a phrase or two, a much appreciated break from the mundanity of most rock
lyrics.
Yes, like every other band, the main themes
of Soul Wax's songs are being in love and falling out of love.
At least it's done with a little panache.
"When Logics Die" is a ballad with a catchy
movement from a simple melody to a complex string piece.
"Saturday" is a boogie shuffle with amusing
lyrics about a night at a dance club: "I'm not dancing/I'm just shifting
weight/I thought you could tell."
While Soul Wax isn't the greatest thing
to happen to music, they are worthwhile for the imaginativeness of their
lyrics and their catchy, upbeat songs. |
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