Chris DeLine

Though I later became a fan of the album based on the music that was actually on it, the first thing that captured my attention when initially introduced to the Sounds’ Dying To Say This To You was its titillating cover. Though neither of the women featured on the cover (DJ Leigh Lezark and Alexis Page) were actually in the band, it was the perfect bait for someone in my demographic (…heterosexual male…breathing…has full use of his eyes…). Released when rock and dance were as intertwined as they’ve ever been, the album’s “Song with a Mission” and “Painted By Numbers” featured an oddly heavy feel, with singer Maja Ivarsson’s vocals teasing a little throatiness through her Scandinavian tone. The band has since played more than 500 shows, sold over 500,000 copies of the record and hawked a song for one of the Geico cavemen commercials (clearly the crown jewel of all their accomplishments).

Now releasing “Dorchester Hotel” as the first single from the band’s third album, Crossing the Rubicon, the Sounds appear to be following the trend set by their previous work: a blend of fairly straight-forward rock songs mashed with a flared beat, leaning heavily on crisp production and Ivarsson’s spunky vocals. The single is far from indie-chic and is a little harder than most of the pop-rock presently crowding from the airwaves, but compared to much of its trashy, bloated contemporaries coming out of the West coast it sounds inspired.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]