The Sounds

Reviewing this record feels almost redundant — there’s nothing to be said about bands like the Sounds that hasn’t been said a thousand times before. A perfect example of the power of labels — the only thing to distinguish this from Avril Lavigne is a shade of ’80 s camp, aimed right at young audiences who like to pretend they remember the ’80 s. Ploys such as this could be overlooked, however, if the music were in any way engaging or fun — sadly, it’s mortifyingly bad. Take, for instance, the lyrics to "Tony the Beat”: "Hey! Let’s kick it! Stop! Just lick it… Let’s do it! Do it, do it, real good!” The band are Swedish, but seeing as plenty of mediocre groups have used broken English to a charming advantage, is this really an excuse? The lyrics are delivered with a two-bit Joan Jett swagger, and even the more pathetically benign tracks are peppered with "F-words” like so many teenagers flipping the bird to their parents behind a bedroom door. It doesn’t take a particularly keen ear to discern that this is dull, tacky, un-danceable dance pop — possibly the only thing more irritating than the album is the fact that people will actually buy it.