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Epitaph Records -- Millencolin

The Sounds

Dying to Say This to You
2006
New Line

The Sounds - Dying to Say This to You (Cover Artwork)


Review by: Dan Perrone
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Published on July 21st 2006

Just when you thought it was safe to walk out your front door under the assumption that the dance-rock craze of last year was all but dead, in comes the new album from the Sounds to make you crawl back into your musical hole and wait until this fad truly is finished. Although the band had previously blended pop and rock music with some keyboards on previous efforts, it was pulled off with much better results than the drab club music found on Dying to Say This to You.

The record starts off innocently enough with “Song with a Mission,” a track reminiscent of the straight-ahead rock leanings of Living in America, complete with a huge chorus and a catchy "Heeeey, baby!!!," screeched by vocalist Maja Ivarsson. It gets the album moving forward with some nice hooks and melodies, but soon after the track ends, Dying to Say This to You takes a turn for the worse. From then on, the Sounds get stuck in this dark retro sort of mood, never really regaining the energy found on the opener. The guitar becomes seemingly non-existent, only appearing to throw down some forced rhythms to keep this categorized as rock music (or so it seems). “Tony the Beat” is downright painful to listen to, with unintentionally hysterical lyrics like "Hey, let’s kick it / Stop, just lick it / Let you start it / ‘Cause it’s so easy / You like it my way / And I know it / So let’s do it, do it do it real good!"

I’m almost embarrassed as I type those words out, but it’s so terrible that it’s amusing. “24 Hours” also boasts some awful lyrics: "Fragile, handle with care / You fall in love, then you lose your head / for the last 24 hours / I’ve been crying my heart out." See, I’m down for some good music that might have lyrics that aren’t amazing, but my intelligence is seriously insulted here. And as if the lyrics alone weren’t bad enough, vocalist Maja decided to be as annoying as possible as well, stretching to reach notes well out of her range and trying too hard to sound “hot” and show off some “girl power.” In fact, with the music so bland and reliant on club-type beats and rhythms, rather than a full-band approach, it puts the focus entirely on Maja and her vocal abilities, and if you’ve been reading, you know the end result was disastrous. Sometimes, some male vocals enter the picture, and it’s equally as bad, if not worse (see “Don’t Want to Hurt You” and its poorly executed profanity).

I suppose there may be one or two other decent songs in the mix somewhere; even in all its cheesiness, “Night After Night” is a nice piano ballad that doesn’t require much effort from Ivarsson, and “Running Out of Turbo” actually sort of rocks, but it’s not enough to cleanse Dying to Say This to You of the embarrassment endured on previous tracks. This album just isn’t worth your time, because you’ve heard it all before -- this is just done worse than all the rest. I’ll pass like Wayne Gretzky.



People who liked this also liked:
The Sounds - Living In AmericaLucero - That Much Further WestNorth Lincoln - Truth Is A MenaceFiya - Better DaysRumbleseat - Is DeadAnnalise - Here's to HopeRiverboat Gamblers - To the Confusion of Our EnemiesScouts Honor - I Am the DustPolar Bear Club - The Redder, The BetterPolar Bear Club - Sometimes Things Just Disappear



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    Posted by slymer on 2007-12-19 17:06:17
    My Score:

    This a pretty good album. They do the dance pop thing just fine.

    Posted by shadow22 on 2007-10-18 19:18:04

    I totally disagree with the reviewer. This is a great album, One of the best that I listened to last year. Caution this is a great album when your stoned

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 7:54 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Maja`s hot and her vioce makes me horny!

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 3, 2006 at 1:29 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    This reviewer obviously has little to no experience in reviewing music. Period. The whole rant was nonsensical and purely opinion based. I can do that too, I think the album is great! Not as dancy as there first one, which in my opinion, in better.

    And If I hadn't allready lost all respect for the reviewer, I did when I read the atrocious attempt at wit in the articles closing. "I'll pass like Wayne Gretzky". Not only in this not remotely funny, but it's retardedly ill-informed. Any Idiot knows that Gretzky would never have put up a 90 goal season by "passing". Way to try and take a stab at the worlds greatest athlete of his time and fail miserably.... tool.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 12:55 AM (EDT)

    great tits

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 24, 2006 at 4:14 PM (EDT)

    I'm looking for gay sex. I love that dance music and hooking up with random guys for a little reacharound in the bathroom stalls.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 24, 2006 at 3:46 PM (EDT)

    i want to have a 3 way with the ladies on the cover of this record. as for listening to it? no thank you.
    -TOBB

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 24, 2006 at 3:16 PM (EDT)

    Phantom fella has a point (though Scruffy has one too)... but I think the Phantom point can go up against the new Hilary Duff material and The Sounds pale in comparison.

    Posted by Phantom_Maggot on 2006-07-24 13:10:35

    " 'This does not mean I like them, but I'd rather hear them than Burry Us with Your Hearts in Cold November or something like that. '

    Wouldn't you rather listen to something good, and neither of those two options? "

    Well yeah, obviously, but I was trying to make a point that there are worse bands out there.

    Posted by SmartyPants on 2006-07-23 23:29:02
    My Score:

    I am a sucker for titalin.

    Posted by SlackMFr on 2006-07-23 20:47:24
    My Score:

    This band blows and the singer looks like a man in drag, she's ugly as burnt toast.

    Posted by Scruffy on 2006-07-23 19:04:41

    "This does not mean I like them, but I'd rather hear them than Burry Us with Your Hearts in Cold November or something like that. "

    Wouldn't you rather listen to something good, and neither of those two options?

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, July 23, 2006 at 5:35 PM (EDT)

    The chick on the Distance album cover is hotter. Her make up kind of makes her look like Bozo the Clown, though. Ah, what the hell. CLOWN PORN ON THE HOUSE!!!

    Posted by Eruda on 2006-07-22 19:41:57

    Ah, The sounds! es una buena banda (si no hubiera existido Blondie), con un toque de punk (si el punk hubiera nacido en los 80's).

    Al fin y al cabo es una banda mas que pretende copiar el sonido que una vez tuvo tanto exito y solo duró una decada.

    Posted by EyesLikeBOmbs on 2006-07-22 19:08:28

    Oh, I'm ready for it, come on bring it.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 22, 2006 at 6:38 PM (EDT)

    what happened to bands on tv?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 22, 2006 at 1:14 PM (EDT)

    Is it wrong that I want to do a line of coke off of one of these girls collar bones? I don't even do coke, but that sounds like the best idea ever.

    Posted by Phantom_Maggot on 2006-07-22 13:03:34

    Now, I am not going to pretend to like The Sounds, but I think everyone is too harsh on them. They are "punk" in the way that Blondie was (in fact they remind me a lot of Blondie). This does not mean I like them, but I'd rather hear them than Burry Us with Your Hearts in Cold November or something like that. So ya, feel free to rip my comment now....and begin.

    Posted by rinjonjori on 2006-07-21 23:09:41
    My Score:

    I'd listen to tis if I could meet the chick with the tank top

    Posted by chickswithdicks on 2006-07-21 19:03:44
    My Score:

    boo

    Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-21 17:46:49

    man...i have no idea how you can like that painted by numbers song...those little kid na na na's and that ridiculously irritating synth that mimicks the vocals in the chorus...hooooooly shit

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 4:54 PM (EDT)

    what? this is the same cover as the new Distance album

    Posted by tylerdurden8136 on 2006-07-21 16:29:43
    My Score:

    Holy shit, this albums' not that bad.

    How can you attack her voice? It just seems to have this sort of rough quality about it that actually makes most of the album listenable.

    Sure, a few songs aren't that great, but "Painted by Numbers" makes up for all.

    Scores for that song, but I'd give the album a six.

    Posted by Autosuggestion on 2006-07-21 15:08:25

    Scott is so incredibly right on about MisShapes. Ugggh. Don Hills. Gosh darned atrocious. It boggles the mind.

    So, why post this review instead of the Hilary Duff record she did with the John Feldman from Goldfinger? In any measurable way, that's a lot more punk (and generally more interesting and enjoyable) than this.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 1:12 PM (EDT)

    There's a reason it took so long to comeout in NA, and that's because it blows.

    Posted by skolarx on 2006-07-21 12:17:15

    odd, i literally just started listening to this cd, ganked it from my bosses cds

    Posted by danperrone on 2006-07-21 11:10:20

    yeah seriously dudes, that album cover is disgusting

    Posted by maverick on 2006-07-21 10:56:44
    My Score:

    The cover "models" are two of the coked-out regulars at MisShapes, this ultra-scenester party series that takes place in NYC. Score's for MisShapes.

    -Scott

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 10:53 AM (EDT)

    Last album was great, this album, uh, not so good.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 10:25 AM (EDT)

    my sister loves this shit, I was always curious about the cover.

    - APK

    Posted by kirbypuckett on 2006-07-21 09:27:31

    Who are the people that design the awful artwork for these records?

    I need to get into this business. I'm already pretty fluent in Photoshop and know my way around design. So with my next paycheck I should buy a really nice high end Canon camera and get in the business.

    - Kirby

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 7:16 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    this is shitty but not as shitty as emo or metalcore

    Posted by almostpunkenough on 2006-07-21 06:15:34

    how could the music possibly outdo that cover?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 6:11 AM (EDT)

    The album cover is very original...oh wait no its not!

    Posted by JLJL on 2006-07-21 04:00:55

    I see a nipple !

    Posted by SalsaShark on 2006-07-21 03:57:57

    I haven't heard a song off this record, but I really dig The Sounds. It's not punk but it's a lot of fun. "Dance With Me" (especially that intro) and "Living In America" are excellent pop songs.

    Posted by leifkills on 2006-07-21 03:57:28
    My Score:

    Running out of Turbo is a fucking good song. The rest of the cd... not so much. But check out that song. And maybe Ego. Yeah. That one too.

    Posted by TahoeJeff on 2006-07-21 03:22:39
    My Score:

    I'm sure you're probably beating more than a dead horse...but seriously...score is for the cover!

    Posted by theOneTrueBill on 2006-07-21 03:08:31

    not to beat a dead horse, but i like the album cover

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 2:55 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Dying to Say This Sucks And Is Worth One Star

    Posted by niveK82 on 2006-07-21 02:42:48
    My Score:

    My score is for the boobies on the cover!

    Posted by burningfeeetman on 2006-07-21 02:27:43

    The titties are fantastic.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 12:43 AM (EDT)

    I really liked one or two songs from their last album, but I never bothered to listen to the whole thing. Guess I won't be listening to this one, either....

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 12:19 AM (EDT)

    Their last record was pretty good so I'm surprised to hear that this one fell short.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 12:19 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Why Did You Guys Even Bother?

    New Line better have filled your pockets
    with pistachios.