The Sounds - Dying to Say This To You Review
Posted by Ari Berenstein on 04.10.2006
Punkers and rockers, off the couch and on the dance floor!
The Sounds—Dying to Say This To You
Release Date: March 21, 2006
Label: Scratchie / New Line Review: Positive
Previously…
Living in America (2002)
Last year, M&M / Mars Co. introduced a new product brand called M'Azing. Actually, this new type of candy was an amalgamation of two previous products—the very well off but standard variety chocolate bar and the ever popular and somewhat charismatic as cartoon character M&Ms. Separate, they each ruled the chocolate industry with a cocoa covered fist. Combined into one form, the candy bar strives to be two great tastes that taste great together.
Two years back, New New Wave began to gain center stage in the music mainstream. Bands such as The Killers, Kaiser Chefs, Franz Ferdinand and The Bravery hit it big with a combination of the original flavor of New Wave—danceable grooves yet avant garde and somewhat dark in sonic style—with modern alternative punk—fast, hard and often times whiny vocals and repetitive rhythms. It's a combination that clicked with the twenty first century music fans—right place, right time, right context. It's still to be seen whether or not this new wave of New Wave is just another passing trend or has some staying power.
Taste buds vary of course, and some people like the chocolate bar and some people like M&Ms. Other snack connoisseurs think they should be kept separate and others won't begrudge a little inter-cocoa relationship. This is much the same way I believe audiences react to the inter-genre affair between dance and punk rock brought on by the aforementioned bands. Some like their dance music only on the dance floor, and some rock addicts won't set foot in any disco-ball bedecked ballroom. So it will go with listener reaction to The Sounds' new release Dying To Say This To You.
Hailing from Sweden, The Sounds are one of those newer bands out there that represent the M'azings of the music world. By that I mean they seek to combine multiple genres and musical styles onto one album. Did they get the mixture just right or does the sound melt in your hand before it melts in your ear?
At ten songs (plus an alternate, rock version of picture perfect ballad "Night After Night") the album moves forward quickly from one song to another; from one combination of dancerock to another. Some tracks work better than others as far as capturing that blend of multiple music styles. Lead single "Song With A Mission" does the heart of punk rock just right, with a brash attitude that is derisive and rejecting of the mainstream--"this song is not for you, only for people living life who do enough for the true." When a similar sentiment gets expressed in the more sexual lyrics of dance heavy, synthesizer oriented "Tony the Beat", it appears as a cheeky, dirty come-on.
The beats are fun and light hearted for the most part, and as such is great for just getting down and dancing around a bit (yes, even those rockers who prefer to pogo might just get down with this album). However, extended listening might be enough to take anyone off of the dance floor for a while. The songs just get a bit too grating and become played out if you listen too long, an inherent irony of the genre.
Female lead singer Maja Ivarsson's vocals are solid for the style the band is attempting to present. Her shouts and cadences are perfectly acceptable for the dance heavy numbers. Although for the most punk rock of the dancepunkrock songs her vocals are at times overbearing and over indulgent. Ivarsson fits right in with Yeah Yeah Yeah's front woman Karen O. who serves as precedent for contemporary female singers in this particular era. O. outclasses her in terms of command and vocal power but by contrast, Ivarsson's subtler moments are often more on point (listen to the great emoting on "24 Hours" and "Paint By Numbers" for examples of this).
Unbelievably the males in the group almost steal the entire album away from Ivarsson by doing lead vocals for the lush and ultra groovy "Don't Want To Hurt You". The guys' vocal sound is reminiscent of late 90's Scottish pop rock group bis and the sound is just as addictive as that group's material. It is very endearing to hear the men in their Swedish accents sing out "Don't want to hurt you / try not to fuck with your feelings", with the lilted accents on the word "fuck". Ivarsson is great on the pre chorus and the combination creates an excellent blend of both the male and the female voice. "Don't Want To Hurt You" is ultimately one of the most perfect dance songs I've heard in quite some time.
Are The Sounds is trying way too hard to be dancepunkrock (or would that be rockpunkdance or punkrockdance)? The answer is yes, but really, who the hell cares? Just get off your ass and dance…or pogo…whichever you prefer.
The music from Dying To Say This To You will melt in your ear. Just try not to stick an M'Azing bar in there at the same time.
The 411: Aversions to “The ____” bands aside, Dying To Say This To You is an excellent addition to the home of fans of aforementioned bands The Killers (whose producer also worked on this album) and “dancerock” aficionados. The album is probably a bit overbearing for general rock fans, but strictly dance fans more than likely will get a kick out the album. The vocals and the sound can get a bit overplayed at times, but once the album gets in the groove you’ll find out that you just can’t skip any tracks no matter the compulsion. You just have to dance, dance. Some great beats and great riffs merged in one album, and you don’t have to do any contortionist tricks like in that M’Azing commercial to get the CD to play.
