The Sounds - 'Crossing the Rubicon' Review

With obvious debts to the Cars and Blondie, the Sounds continue to pledge allegiance to new wave bands of 30 years ago on their third album, Crossing the Rubicon, which milks the era’s synthesizer-heavy melodrama for songs that veer between the playful and the despondent. Vocalist Maja Ivarsson may not be a technically stunning singer, but her urgency and charisma give the album a flesh-and-blood resonance that ensures that listeners won’t confuse the Sounds with an ‘80s tribute band.

The Swedish group’s last album, 2006’s Dying to Say This to You, considerably elevated the band’s profile in America, which raised expectations for Crossing the Rubicon. But if they felt any pressure in writing their follow-up album, the Sounds sure don’t show it – instead, Crossing the Rubicon confidently solidifies the band’s strengths, suggesting that Ivarsson and her cohorts decided to focus on slick, pop-centric tunes instead of worrying about cementing their commercial potential.

The Sounds get criticized for the derivativeness of their old-school new wave, but they unquestionably find fresh inspiration from moldy ideas. “Beatbox” slyly evokes Blondie’s “Rapture” while Ivarsson gives her unique spin on Deborah Harry’s sung-rapped vocals. The glittery ballad “Midnight Sun” recalls “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “(I Just) Died in Your Arms,” marrying romantic pain and sweetly polished hooks into a concoction that’s probably bad for you but nonetheless impossible to resist. And then there’s “Lost in Love,” which borrows keyboard ideas from A-Ha’s seminally cheesy pop classic “Take on Me.” Anybody listening to Crossing the Rubicon will immediately be able to spot the group’s influences, but because of the material’s perky bounce, the recycling feels buoyant rather than lazy or cynical.

While they stick largely to backward-looking new wave on Crossing the Rubicon, the Sounds do branch out a little. The title track travels into modern rock, bringing together atmospheric keyboards and ghostly male vocals for a piece of unsettling mood music. And although Jesper Anderberg’s articulate, driving keyboards are the album’s centerpiece, guitarist Felix Rodriguez asserts himself on the candy-colored garage rock of the first single, “No One Sleeps When I’m Awake.”

Crossing the Rubicon mostly deals with matters of the heart, but as a vocalist, Ivarsson is neither a shrinking violet nor a tomboy trying to prove herself as macho as her male counterparts. Instead, she’s feminine but steely, providing sex appeal but also a toughness to tracks like “4 Songs & a Fight,” which is a fuzzy account of one harrowing night that Ivarsson doesn’t quite want to remember. During the album’s weaker moments, Ivarsson tries to prop up flimsy songs with grit, but her personality can’t save mediocre material. On the whole, though, her vocals form the warm center of these bright, poppy tunes – like Crossing the Rubicon itself, she’s flirty, fun and on an never-ending quest for pleasure.

'Crossing the Rubicon' – Best Tracks:

“No One Sleeps When I’m Awake” (Purchase/Download)
“Beatbox” (Purchase/Download)
“Crossing the Rubicon” (Purchase/Download)
“Midnight Sun” (Purchase/Download)
“Lost in Love” (Purchase/Download)

Release date – June 2, 2009
Original Signal