Artist: The Sounds
Album: Dying to Say this to You
Label: New Line
Tracks: 11
Length: 35 Minutes
Reviewed by: Conrad

 

It's quite rare that I actually add an album into my regular rotation.  The last time this happened was with The Sounds debut album, "Living in America".  This album pretty much sums up what I want in music – really catchy, upbeat, minor-key rock.  Their music features a new wavey feel with an extremely good female vocalist who has great range and intensity. 

 

What was funny is that Julia and I were talking a couple weeks ago saying, "I wonder when they're gonna release a new album."  Lo and behold a couple days later the advance copy of "Dying to Say this to You" shows up in the mail.  I guess in our psychic powers we should have said, "I wonder when a million dollars are going to show up in the mail."

 

So I pop in the CD and immediately notice something on almost every track…

 

In comparison to the first record, there is a considerable lack of energy. 

 

Some of this is totally obvious stuff too.  Like for a couple songs when the chorus is supposed to get big and rocking, the drumbeat doesn't change at all – closed hi-hat and all. 

 

Another thing, which is even a greater weakness, is the lack of vocal range.  For the first record Maja sang tons of notes up around high C to high E.  Tons of the choruses were up there.  She barely even approaches that in this record.  Half these songs would have had a lot more intensity if they just raised the key a couple notches.  But instead we get vocals that lack punch for what could have been a killer, energetic song.

 

The tempos of these songs don't help either.  Everything seems just a bit slow. 

 

Before you think this album is a dud, this album grew on me after I got over the "what could have been" mentality.  It really is a good record, in fact it's a great record if you've never heard the first album.  So if you haven't heard them yet, get this record first, then after you wear it out, buy the first one. 

 

Okay, now that you know it's a good record, back to the complaining. 

 

The first album they just recorded themselves at some small studio – and you know what?  That's what they should have just done for this album.  And the big name producer?  Jeff Saltzman?  You know he did The Killer's album?  He didn't help any.  The guy who mixed it, John Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies, Hole), man, he didn't help either.  The mix is just weak.

 

I'm not even going to complain about song length – which typically is a little less than 3 minutes, because that's just what they do and I got over it in the first album.

 

With all those strikes against this record, it still doesn't change the fact that these songs are good.  I just would have made adjustments.

 

It's a short record.  It's 11 songs… kinda.  One song has two versions on it a ballad version and a rock version.  So really you got ten songs.  Then two of those songs absolutely suck, so you're down to 8 songs.  So it's about 25 minutes of worthwhile material.  Which yeah, isn't much, but considering I don't like two minutes of most records, this album does well.

 

Dying to Say This to You is an album that I'll always consider what could have been.  But if I had never heard of this band before this record, I'd be all over it.  So yeah, it's a good record for a good band.