The Sounds are to Blondie what Skipper is to Barbie. The elder plastic doll is more mature, diverse and drives a better car. But the younger plastic doll is willing to please, an upstart who trades off Barbie's goodwill to brandish her own path into the hearts of impressionable youth. With that creepy comparison out of the way I can explain how the Sounds are the next in line to try and dethrone those titans of new wave/punk/disco/rap/whatever genre it may have been at the moment.
Dying to Say This to You is an upbeat record that borrows heavily from the 1980's. Punk guitars, new wave keyboards and vocals that snarl and wink at the same time blast through 10 catchy tracks. Those tracks start running together though as the vocals rely on the same melody through each song and the same insistent riff seems to be driving each song.
The album is deflated at the midpoint by the melodramatic "Night After Night", but that song is then reprised as a hidden track with the guitars turned back up. The hidden version is far superior, and would have been a better fit for the album's running order.
Those may be artificial gripes as the record is fun and catchy. These days fun and catchy are code words for "just for teenage girls". The Sounds will be your little sister's new favorite band. Assuming she hasn't heard anything recorded prior to 1985.
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