The Sounds – Crossing the Rubicon
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When The Sounds first crossed the Atlantic, everyone was abuzz with the rehashing of eighties synthesizers and guitars. Glittery punk-pop took the hipsters (and hipspanics) by storm; you all liked The Killers at first, and you probably liked The Sounds too. Now on their third album, Crossing the Rubicon, the question remains as to where the band can possibly go musically without treading water in the same spot they’ve lived in for years.
From the moment the first single “No One Sleeps When I’m Awake” crashes into your speakers, it’s clear that the band have stepped up their game, at least with regards to their approach. Long gone are the sexy days in the tiny clubs, as this song represents a louder, more brash, band destined to carry out their shows in larger arenas. Songs like these are perfect for radio play; they’re everything a good pop song should be: catchy melody and singable elements.
However, the band still maintains a firm grip on their club attitude. The presence of songs like “Beatbox” and “My Lover” show that the band is very much still enthralled with creating a club hit with that punk attitude. Maja always seemed like the heir to Debbie Harry, and perhaps crossover songs such as these will provide the platform from which she can finally jump into mainstream stardom. But, it is precisely this element where the band has lost what made them so ferocious and dangerous when they first hit took to the stage. Releasing such songs has also led to forays into other musical genres, some which are not quite as forgivable as creating a club hit.
Let’s take “Midnight Sun” and use this as our point of discussion. Guitar work is drowned out for the most part, despite the cheesy solo in the middle that does nothing more than mimic a number of solos on Guitar Hero. You combine that with the vocals and you have the band doing their first take on what we will refer to as Kelly Clarkson pop. Everything about this song feels contrived and heartless.
Unfortunately, that is where you find The Sounds at the end of the day on this album. Those killer guitar parts that led you to believe you were still listening to a band with some sort of punk sensibility have been exchanged on the market for more polished sounds. Polished is the perfect word for this album. What once made the group come off as edgy and exciting has been dumbed down to reach a new audience entirely. They created Crossing the Rubicon and threw everything out the window entirely. We expected them to change, just not into this.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/06-underground.mp3]Download: The Sounds – Underground [MP3]