Hoping that they’ll live up to their name, one has a lot of expectations when seeing a band called The Sounds play live. And, boy, do they deliver sound — sound that leaves you wanting more, despite the pestering feedback you can still hear two days later. Promoting their third album, “Crossing the Rubicon,” The Sounds rocked the house Monday, Sept. 21 at the 9:30 club.
In an interview with The Eagle, Felix Rodriguez, guitarist of the Swedish five-piece band explained that not only have they just started this American tour after finishing one in Europe, they also opened for No Doubt this summer.
“It was a lot of fun to play to a different kind of crowd and try and win them over,” Rodriguez said.
If you haven’t heard of this five-piece yet, they’ve been compared to bands like Blondie and The Cars, but keep their style unique by adding synthesizers and catchy pop/rock beats — and they’re not afraid to say what they want. It also helps that their lead singer, frontwoman extraordinaire Maja Ivarsson, is as fierce as their music is, stomping across the stage with her thunderous legs in heels that would have anyone crying after a few minutes.
Yet, she and the rest of The Sounds played a 90-minute set including songs from all of their released records. The band pleased the crowd with their first claim to fame, “Seven Days A Week,” and “Living in America,” a song expressing how they’re proud Swedes, stating, “We’re not living in America, but we’re not sorry!”
The group has played at the 9:30 club once before, alongside one of hip-hop’s finest, Ghostface Killah. However, this night was different as they headlined to a crowd who clearly came for The Sounds, screaming every “whoa” and “hey” at the top of their lungs.
Drawing influences from practically everywhere — including ‘80s bands like Roxy Music, Depeche Mode, as well as Britney Spears and Tom Petty — the band began the process of creating “Crossing The Rubicon” about a year ago, writing and recording in Sweden, New York City and Los Angeles, which, in their opinion was a good thing.
“We never got stuck in one motion,” Rodriguez said.
The biggest change for them this time was dropping their old record label and starting their own, Arnioki Records, according to Rodriguez.
“It was great to be more involved in the record-making process, to have greater creative control,” he said. He called this installment a more mature record, since the album reflected the group’s changes.
“We’ve been growing as musicians and people over the last 10 years,” he said. “[But the album] still has the energy that we’re known for.”
To say that The Sounds have a lot of energy would be a huge understatement, given their performance Monday night. They never missed a beat and oozed passion and brilliance on the entire set. At one point, Ivarsson even took out a cigarette and gave it to Rodriguez while he was playing and then lit it for him. Grabbing the mic stand, Ivarsson practically threw it out into the crowd. She later called on this same crowd, or as she said, her “bitches,” to sing. And when she wanted the men in the crowd to sing, she nonchalantly got up on top of the bass drum and put the mic in a manly area in true rock star fasion.
The Sounds have a clear vision for who they are and what they want from their music. Despite Rolling Stone saying “Crossing the Rubicon” was “generic,” Rodriguez made it clear that the band just writes what feels right to them, and that they don’t think about whether it is going to sound “generic” or “edgy.”
“Everyone has their own opinion and we respect that, but we’re happy with the record and we’re getting a good reaction to it from the fans so that’s what really matters to us,” Rodriguez said.
The fans definitely responded well to the group, whether they played songs from their new album or the classics. “Beatbox,” off the band’s newest album and has a more sultry, techno side, but still has catchy lyrics like “Turn it up and break it down/c’mon bring that beatbox back.” It also happens to be their favorite song to play live. “Beatbox” is set to be their next single, with a music video coming out within the next few weeks.
“The video is going to be really cool; it’s very obscure and frightening,” Rodriguez said. “It’s gonna surprise a lot of people.”
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
