The Sounds: Dying To Say This To You (Album Review) at Why So Blu?

The Sounds: Dying To Say This To You (Album Review)

November 10th, 2013 by Gerard Iribe

Here we are once again with part 2 of our “flashback” series of album reviews covering that little ol’ band from Sweden: The Sounds! Three to four years after their electric new-wave album Living in America tore up the European charts and similarly making a dent here in America, Los Sonidos came back with their follow-up record called Dying To Say This To You. As part of our continuing coverage of all things “The Sounds” I will take you on a bit of journey and show you what makes them so special and unique among today’s (and yesterday’s) evolving musical paths. If you still have some leftover tea from our Living in America review then throw it out and pour yourself something a bit stronger. We’re about to hit the turbo!

Album

The Sounds were not to be outdone by anyone including themselves. After a few years of touring the hell out of their stellar debut, Living in America, all over the world, it was time to get cracking on their sophomore effort. Relocating to the gritty streets of Oakland, California, they hooked up with producer Jeff Saltzman (The Killers’ Hot Fuss) to handle the boards and logistics and they were off and running.

There’s a certain stigma for any band coming off of a successful debut to go back into the studio and crank out an album just like the first one. Granted, that’s usually the record label talking and at this point in The Sounds careers they still had a label behind them. What would they do and how would they react to the mounting pressures of the business? Duh, crank it up to 11, of course!

The band basically took all of the elements that made Living in America (our review HERE) great and fused them together with a much larger dose of new wave influence. Yes, there are guitar driven songs in Dying To Say This To You, but even those tracks (with the exception of the original version of Night After Night) get an ample serving of electronic melodies. Other tunes are such standouts that they even elicited a response from Hollywood. My favorite tracks off of Dying To Say This To You all happen to be the ones driven by electro beats. Tony the Beat, Painted By Numbers, Ego, and Hurt You. Hurt You was so popular that they even used the track in one of the classic GIECO cavemen commercials.

After the album was released the band took to the road and performed over 200 shows in support of the album – in addition to playing on the main stage at the 2006 Warped Tour. It was a whirlwind affair and the boys and girl were on fire.

As I touched upon before, Dying To Say This To You took their signature sound that established on their first album and incorporated much more electronica to the new tunes than even Living in America had. The non-electronic infused tracks, like the leadoff track Song With A Mission, had more of a throwback sound to it – considering they used a cowbell for that one. Lyrically, some of the songs remained the same in terms of themes, which included, but were not limited to: heartbreak, love, self-empowerment, etc.

At the time of the album’s release I was really heavily into the club scene and I would listen to some of the more dancer tunes on Dying To Say This To You before heading out – yet I was still not permanently addicted to them. No, it would be a many more years later before the addiction would take hold – alas, but that’s for a later review. On a more personal note – Dying To Say This To You was the band’s first foray into vinyl records. Unfortunately, it was released in very limited qualities and promptly scooped up by fans and collectors. I was lucky enough to find one a few months ago, brand new and still sealed, for about $70. To date, it is my most expensive vinyl acquisition.

The Sounds: Dying To Say This To You is a great second album for a band that has never compromised with the passing fads of the music industry. They have always played by their own rules and in our next review we will talk about how they freed themselves from the chains of label bondage. Stay tuned for part 3 of our flashback coverage – where we will ‘cross the rubicon’ together.