The Sounds – Weekend

Sweden: the land of 90s skate punk, elite hockey and ABBA. The Sounds share more in common with INVSN than Refused, heavy on the throwback pop sound, without falling into the cheese category like the Dancing Queens.

They kick off their latest release with the instantly catchy Shake, Shake, Shake, a dance song reminiscent of the Hot Hot Heat. The high energy song sets the mood for the album, which lives up to the unspoken promise of its title, Weekend. These are songs designed for the warm summer nights of youth, when emotions tend to run at maximum at all times. The sad songs (Take It the Wrong Way, Hurt the Ones I Love) feel so much sadder, with an epic sound reminiscent of The Killers or Tegan & Sara. The title track is a slow burn, a beautiful simmering song that builds toward the chorus, the chants of “I live for the weekend, baby” juxtaposing the mellow musical accompaniment. There is a near perfect balance of atmospheric melodies and high paced pop dance numbers, keeping the album moving along without bogging down in familiarity. They channel the 80s most successfully on Panic, a song destined to appeal to listeners who wear their sunglasses at night.  Never content to stay standing in one place, they follow up Panic with a 90s influenced pop number, Animal, which has a stronger guitar influence. Young and Wild is a high note to end the album on, a fun anthem lauding the freedom of youth. The 11 track album as a whole works well together, complementing the simple but appealing cover art.

The Sounds continue to work within the brand of pop that they are known for, but there is a noticeable vibrancy that wasn’t as obvious in the past. Their music sounds as if they are enjoying playing it, which is always a wonderful thing to hear.