Total Magique

We Are Wolves | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dare to Care
• ASIN: B000NJWSI0
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,475 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

On their sophomore album, We Are Wolves use mystical powers to bring their sound to a new level of auditive threat. Total Magique unleashes the raw sounds of the trio in a mesmerizing whirlwind of electro psychedelic kraut punk. Started as an art project in 2000, We Are Wolves left their mother’s den of Montreal, Canada in support of such acts as The Gossip, DFA1979, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, and the (International) Noise Conspiracy. The trio, featuring Alexander Ortiz on vocals/bass/guitar, Vincent Levesque on synths/drum machine/vocals, Antonin Marquis on drums/percussion/vocals, creates music that stands out from the masses and expands the threshold of what a musical act can be. Can you feel the MAGIQUE?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete Magic, January 17, 2008

By 

M. Buisman "Martijn Buisman" (Amsterdam, NL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Total Magique (Audio CD)

Eclectic is a word that fits most Canadian bands these days. We Are Wolves, are loud, they change speeds and sound great.

Sometimes it sounds like the new rave of the Klaxons, the bluesrock of Jon Spencer and the White Stripes, but with distorted vocals that sometimes even sound like Chemical Brothers samples or Cylons from the old Battlestar Galactica series.

It's loud, hard to define and maybe not the easiest music but if you get it you're really in for a ride.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Total Magique by We Are Wolves, December 6, 2007

By 

The Captain "Bounty628" (Bridgewater, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Total Magique (Audio CD)

We all know that Canada is well known for their beer that packs a far more powerful punch than several of the identical American counterparts. However, perhaps the same can be said for Canadian rock music. With the same sort of vengeance as Maudite might rock ones palate, Canadian rockers We Are Wolves have produced an album that equally might knock you onto your American rump if you are not careful.

Hailing from Montreal, We Are Wolves has released their second full length album Total Magique and with it have allowed the world to hear what it means to be a top notch Canadian rock artist. The sound of We Are Wolves is about as intense as one might hope to find in an album. The rock sounds crafted by this band are enough to get even the hardest rock fans dancing around and ensures that few will be left disappointed by this album. With an album that is solidly produced from start to finish, We Are Wolves have entered a new echelon of musical greatness with their album Total Magique .

We Are Wolves is comprised of Alexander Ortiz (vocals/bass), Vincent Levesque (keyboards/vocals) and Antonin Marquis (drums).

For fear of blowing your speakers, make sure your sound is turned down slightly on the first track, Fight & Kiss . Having never listened to the band We Are Wolves before, but for reading a few reviews of the band I truly had no idea what to expect with the album. The first track blasts the listener into the music of We Are Wolves and relies heavily upon the loud and electric instrumental sounds. When the band couples the instrumental sounds to an equally loud and in your face vocal accompaniment, the listener quickly gains the understanding that when this band seeks to put out a dance rock sound they mean nothing but business.

Some Words has some of the more unique variations on the album with some high pitched keyboard parts nicely worked into the track. The vocals on this track seem to support the music on the track more so than vice versa. On this track, We Are Wolves seems to nicely wrap the music around the vocals and allow for the vocals to truly take front stage on the track. The music keenly also leads in flawlessly to the next track, Coconut Night . The band aptly slides the music into a welcoming and repetitive guitar sound that graces the listener into the Coconut Night track.

Vamos A La Playa is another well mastered song on the album Total Magique . With an interesting percussive section to the track that not only serves as the pacemaker of the track but also the focal point of the music, We Are Wolves allows for the music alone on Vamos A La Playa to truly be the storyteller on the track. The instrumental track is perfected in such a way that it almost serves as a brief respite from the more intense vocal tracks of the album.

The album winds down nicely with the track Total Solide . With an almost discotheque feel to the music, this track maintains some of the more funky sounds on the album. The band creates a virtual flashback to the disco era on this track with a more high pitched sound that permeates the track solely in the background of the track. A more industrial rock sound serves the front part of the track well.

Track Listing:

1. Fight & Kiss
2. Magique
3. Some Words
4. Coconut Night
5. I Wrote Your Name on My Kite
6. Vietnam
7. Walk Away Walk
8. So Nice, So Cold
9. Psychic Kids
10. Teenage Bats & Anthropology
11. Vamos a La Playa
12. The Piper
13. Total Solide

Roller coasters have them and beer bottles have them. Perhaps the album Total Magique by We Are Wolves should also have a label explaining that the contents within are not for the faint of heart. The rock music is a different style of rock music and could be a bit too much for some rock fans. However, what the album is not is an album completely lacking in talent and therefore compensated by crass lyrics and vulgar language.

We Are Wolves has created an album that is indeed musically different than what most people might not be used to. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing. The different sounds of this album are proof positive that We Are Wolves certainly has had different experiences and influences musically that have helped them shape this album. The end product, nonetheless, is a musically unique album that is worthy of being listened to.

Total Magique was produced by Alexis Farand, Jess Gagnon & We Are Wolves and is on the Dare to Care Records label.

For more information about We Are Wolves, check out their website at www.wearewolves.net.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cool album cover..., October 31, 2007

By 

Maxtone Witherball - See all my reviews

This review is from: Total Magique (Audio CD)

...and the music's not bad. But a little too much of a White Stripes rip for me.