The Sounds at the Pressure Point

The Sounds - Pressure Point, Brighton

My favourite new band of 2007 thus far is without a doubt The Sounds, a Swedish five-piece who make glorious electro-pop (imagine if Blondie grew up listening to the songs of Daft Punk, so the publicity goes...) and have this week re-released their fabulous Dying To Say This To You album chock full of bonus material. Yesterday also saw the start of their first headlining UK tour beginning with a date here at the Pressure Point in Brighton. Before the gig the band turned up at Resident Records for an instore session - but in the end they just did a signing as the shop was (allegedly) too small for them to set up in!

Maja - Song With A Mission

The show itself was a blast! Beginning with one of my favourites, Painted By Numbers, the band raced through most of the tracks on their current album and a few older songs from their first Swedish release. Singer Maja was a firecracker on stage, a natural performer, throwing shapes and repeatedly coming down the front to sing to the audience - and just like Lovefoxx from CSS, she also indulged in a spot of stagediving! Poor Andy got left behind at the bar as I gradually got sucked closer and closer to the front, jumping around with the other fans. Honestly, I haven't enjoyed a gig as much as this one in ages, I was grinning like an idiot! It's hard to pick out a highlight in a set full of highlights, but Song With A Mission certainly had me shouting along during the encore. Best gig of the year so far!