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Swedish pop-punk import the Sounds may not be as well known as the Hives, Abba or Ikea yet, but after they finish up their first headlining U.S. tour in March and open up for the Strokes this spring, they are sure to be hotter than do-it-yourself furniture ever was.
Maja Ivarsson, the bewitching blonde lead singer has been touted as the next Debbie Harry, but there's something even more charming about her. Dancing between songs and giggling into the microphone that she "gets to hang out with gorgeous men all week long" (a reference to her pretty boy bandmates), she is cool without the snobbery, punk without the ugliness, and pop without the cheese.
The "Living in America" tour brought the Sounds to New York's Irving Plaza along with Los Angeles art-school-kids-turned-glam band Ima Robot and Chicago's post-grunge rockers Kill Hannah. Ima Robot's set was brief but rocking with singer Alex Ebert (currently sporting the best mullet in rock) scaling the walls and dancing spastically amid catchy glam punk-pop songs that occasionally channel Ziggy Stardust. Kill Hannah's industrial-pop is catchy, if a bit too polished. Still, their "They Can't Save Us Now" had just the right amount of angst and melody, reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins, and they of course closed with their biggest hit, "Kennedy," which prompted the crowd to jump around and pump their fists.
It was a great lead into the Sounds. Ivarsson is such a riveting sex bomb that it could have been fun just watching her stand on stage in her black mini-dress.
Her poppy-yet-gritty voice works perfectly with the band's early-Eighties synth-infused music. When they played "Living in America," the crowd went crazy like it was 1982 at the Roxy. As Ivarsson growled through the songs and prowled the stage, she got raunchier, slapping her ass and at certain points writhing on the speakers. She coyly bit her nails and said things like "Let's show the bloody kids how to do it!" and "We are the Sounds, motherfucker!" as only a Swedish hottie with a potty mouth can.
The Sounds are cool, sexy, and they party like it's 1984.
GILLIAN TELLING
(February 27, 2004)