The Sounds - Dying To Say This To You (Korova) Released 19/03/07

To be heard, a band must make a bold statement. Something that stamps its impression onto the public’s brain so hard that if they don’t remember you afterwards, they’ll get a niggling migraine until they obligingly do. While some bands choose to get snapped using Peaches Geldof as a leaning post outside a Shoreditch nightspot to achieve this, others (thankfully) are more content to let the music make the proclamation. Sweden’s The Sounds certainly embody the latter approach. Since their formation in 1999 in the closet-sized town of Helsingborg, the five piece have been riding a synth laden new wave revolution which – with their second album, ‘Dying To Say This To You’ – looks set to crash onto a stereo near you. If it hasn’t already that is.

Since their initially low-key, low budget debut, ‘Living In America’ arrived in 2002; The Sounds have barely had chance to take a breath. As well as performing their own sell-out shows worldwide, the band’s spiky, trash-pop has warmed up for The Strokes, Foo Fighters and more recently Panic! At The Disco. It’s no surprise, therefore, that their follow up sounds like an album that’s been made by a band who’ve still yet to pause to glimpse the destruction left in the wake of their own success.

If the albums title alone wasn’t enough of a clue as to the urgency that infuses the record, then the lyrics and energy which ignites the opening track, ‘Song With A Mission,’ certainly will be. “Don’t believe in what you say and what you’ve always been told,” spurts singer Maja Ivarsson in a song which mixes diva-esque woops with ‘Strokesian’ guitar stabs. It certainly sets an impressive precedent. Thankfully, it’s a standard they manage to maintain throughout as well. Both ‘Queen of Apology’ and ‘Tony The Beat’ provide yet more relentless melodic sustenance – the latter of which is so unapologetically funky and annoyingly catchy that if you haven’t heard it already in your fav indie-disco alongside CSS, then you really ought to search for a new one.

‘Dying To Say This To You’ is certainly a ‘bigger’ sounding record than its predecessor. Allied to playing bigger venues, this growth spurt is also a result of having the production touch of Jeff Saltzman (The Killer’s). ‘Paint By Numbers’ is the most obvious example. Sounding like it’s swiped a Brandon Flower’s synth-riff out of his own Dior back pocket; it’s both delicate and emotionally impacting, if a little obviously inspired. But just as things have become a bit predictable, a touch ‘Hot Fuss,’ the ballad ‘Night After Night’ provides a quaint pause where Ivarsson proves she’s got a fragile voice that would rival any songstress gutsy enough to challenge her.

It’s not along break however as ‘Hurt You’ – which sees Felix Rodriguez provide vocal support - soon adds The Sounds’ more obvious 80’s European influences through twisted disco synths and a warped bass line, and the suitably named, ‘Running Out Of Turbo’ wraps up the album with the same breathless intensity that it started with.

Ivarsson admitted that recording ‘Dying To Say This To You’ with Saltzman in Californian surroundings made the band feel like “Bruce Springsteen.” Well, while they might not be as big the Boss, they’re certainly seem intent on making as much noise.