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album reviews

The Sounds
Dying to Say This to You
New Line Records (2006)
Morningwood
Morningwood
Capitol (2006)

The five twenty-something Swedes who make up the Sounds might be too young to remember when New Wave was actually "new," but their feisty, bouncy synth-pop on "Dying to Say This to You" harks back to some of the era's best, such as Blondie and Missing Persons. Singer Maja Ivarsson bellows lyrics with a cutting tone that's more confident than caustic, as she yowls, "I don't feel no pity/Without me you're nothing at all" ("Song With a Mission") with a charming cockiness.

The Sounds' intensity never fades through the pulsing "Queen of Apology" and the rowdy "Painted by Numbers." Not surprising for a group that relies so much on a driving energy, the Sounds stumble with the wailing ballad "Night After Night" but recover easily by reprising the tune as a bouncy rocker.

Although Morningwood's Chantal Claret oozes a similar attitude on the New York quartet's debut, she also relies on a more overt sexuality. She alternates breathy moans with passionate squeals on the seductive "Take Off Your Clothes" and channels a Shirley Manson sultriness on "Body 21." Without much in the way of original lyrics ("My body's twenty-one but my mind is ageless"), Morningwood stoops to such tedious gimmicks as repeatedly spelling out the group's name on "Nth Degree," suggesting that they stayed awake for sex-ed class but never learned much about subtlety.

-- Catherine P. Lewis

.: Originally published: The Washington Post: 7 April 2006, Page WE07
.: Items mentioned above on Amazon.com: Dying to Say This to You (The Sounds, 2006); Morningwood (Morningwood, 2006).