Soulwax - Much Against Everyone's Advice (LP)

Much Against Everyone’s Advice catches Soulwax right on the cusp of reinvention, when the Dewaele brothers were still a razor-edged rock band but already peeking into the neon glow of the dancefloor. You can hear it in the first few bars you drop the needle on. The guitars bite, the drums snap, and there’s a sly flicker of synth that hints at where they’d head a few years later. It’s a late 90s record that still feels wiry and alive, a tight set of songs that prize hooks and texture as much as attitude.

Soulwax came out of Ghent with a knack for classic pop smarts disguised in noisy clothing. This second album is the one that pushed them beyond Belgian club shows and into the chatter of UK tastemakers, and it earns that word-of-mouth the old-fashioned way, with tunes that stick. Conversation Intercom is the obvious gateway, a power-pop rocket with a chorus you can’t shake and a tangle of guitars that feel both tense and playful. It’s crisply arranged, never fussy, and it moves with that lean band-in-a-room momentum you want from a great guitar record.

But the secret spine of Much Against Everyone’s Advice is its curiosity. Even at their most indie, David and Stephen Dewaele were already treating the studio like a playground. Layers phase in and out, backing vocals show up like quick flashes, and the synth lines are less garnish than counter-melody. Too Many DJs is the clearest signpost. It’s a witty, nervy track that nods to radio overload while threading bass, drums, and keys into something that feels like a tight live band staring down a sequencer. The title became their calling card a few years down the track as 2manydjs, and you can hear the seed of that cut-and-paste, crate-raiding sensibility right here, baked into the songwriting rather than slapped on after the fact.

The title track wears its grin on its sleeve. Much Against Everyone’s Advice lands like a dare, a wry shrug set to a ricocheting riff. Where another band might lean into swagger, Soulwax trade in precision. The rhythm section keeps everything taut so the choruses hit harder, and the guitars carve out lines that feel melodic rather than macho. There’s a lot of care in these arrangements, the kind that rewards playing the whole album rather than cherry-picking singles. Side two pulls you deeper into the band’s world, with dynamics that rise and drop like a proper setlist, the sort of pacing that makes you want to flip the record back to side A as soon as it ends.

Spin this on a decent setup and the contrasts really pop. The high-end crunch never gets brittle, the bass sits warm and present, and the vocals cut through without turning harsh. It’s why Much Against Everyone’s Advice vinyl has become a bit of a want-list item for a lot of collectors who came to Soulwax through the dance world and are now chasing the rock-era stuff. If you’re crate-digging for Soulwax vinyl at a Melbourne record store, keep an eye out for clean copies. The album breathes on wax in a way streaming just can’t quite manage.

Beyond the sonics, there’s a charm to the writing that has aged well. Soulwax have always been pop formalists at heart, the kind of band that can take a simple progression and make it feel clever with a rhythmic feint or a stray harmony. That knack runs through the whole set. There’s punch and polish, but also a sense of restlessness that would later explode when the brothers started dismantling genre lines as 2manydjs and then folded those lessons back into the band on Any Minute Now and Nite Versions. This is the hinge-point, and that makes it a compelling story as well as a cracking listen.

If you’re looking to buy Soulwax records online, this is an easy recommendation, both for long-time fans and anyone curious about the bridge between late 90s alt-rock and the indie-dance wave that followed. Among Soulwax albums on vinyl, it’s the one that shows the whole toolkit taking shape in real time, which is part of the thrill. And if you’re browsing vinyl records Australia-wide, don’t sleep on it. Much Against Everyone’s Advice is proof that a band can be precise without being sterile, playful without being flimsy, and forward-thinking while still writing choruses you’ll be humming on the tram home.