Everyone is raving that this female-fronted Swedish rock revival is the next big thing. I’m just not hearing it. There is a definite hook in their music that could cause a little swagger in anyone’s step. The problem lies in the overall delivery — vocalist Maja Ivarsson is just bland and monotone. There seem to be hints throughout their entire album Dying to Say This to You that Ivarsson has the potential to expand her vocal range, but fails to reach any new heights (or lows for that matter). The Sounds seem to be trying too hard to meld an indie sound with Swedish punk hearkening back to The Hives, just with less energy. The glistening moments of piano are lost amongst the aforementioned shoddy vocals and simply awkward moments of synth and samples. It becomes unclear at times if The Sounds are shooting for indie obscurity, garage rock, or simply a dance party medley. It’s the kind of incoherence that just plain ruins things. This could have been a much better album with better vocal work and if they could learn to pull things together.

(New Line Records, 157 Chambers St. 12th Floor, New York, NY 10007)