Bombs, bombs away...

"I gave my heart to rock and roll..."
~The Sounds

At first glance, I thought the lead singer of The Sounds to be another waif-ish rock star, much like William Beckett of The Academy Is... but then I realized that although indeed she is waifish, it’s fully allowed because... well, it’s a she. Bands made of guys with a female lead singer often make me nervous unless they are No Doubt, but The Sounds proved their musical talent as soon as the lead opened her mouth. Hailing all the way from Sweden, the group incorporates tambourine, keyboards, and cowbell into their music, which sounds like Garbage having sex with Shiny Toy Guns on Ecstasy. The hooks are catchy enough that I found myself singing along by the ends of most of the songs, including "Living In America," an anti-US anthem at its finest, throwing my rock fist in the air and hoping the mostly European crowd would not realize what a poser I was. It was clear the lead had overcome the obstacles inherent to being the sole woman in a band of men; she twirled her mic wire like a whip; dangled it from her crotch for a song about being a tease, and very nearly kissed both the (female) backup singer and the (male) keyboardist at different points during their set. AND she didn’t attempt to butcher the French language, so props for that. Between songs like "Bombs Bombs Away" and my favorite, a pretentious band-aid declaration called "Rock and Roll," I found myself wishing I could sing along with their high-energy set by the end of the first song.
Hung it up and dance with me,
B