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Sahara Hotnights - C'mon Let's Pretend Audio CD

A fair review of the Sahara Hotnights "C'mon Let's Pretend" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Sahara Hotnights reviews here, or go back to the Sahara Hotnights tabs.

Sahara Hotnights Band: Sahara Hotnights
Title: C'mon Let's Pretend
Rating:
Release Date: 2003-04-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Push on Some More 2: Quite a Feeling 3: Drive Dead Slow 4: Oh Darling! 5: Wake Up 6: That's What They Do 7: Impressed by Me 8: Kicks 9: Too Cold for You 10: I Know Exactly What to Do 11: Our Very Own

Impressed By Me
Where Jennie Bomb is more punk, C'mon Let's Pretend is a more slowed down modern Rock Album. This album was just what I expected, it's not as excellent as Jennie Bomb, but it still has a lot of great songs. The first track "Push On Some More" is hard to get past because it's so good, I listened to it over and over again. If you have Jennie Bomb you should definitely get C'mon Let's Pretend. It's not as hard, but the band makes a big impact. The best tracks are "Push On Some More," "Quite A Feeling," "Impressed By Me," "Too Cold For You" and "Our Very Own. ".


Modern Day Sioxsie and the Banshees
While detractors of that record could rightfully complain that the songs sounded too similar to each other, the same cannot be said of this much richer more varied album. I was first exposed to this band through the record 'Jennie Bomb'.

The songs average between 3 and 4 minutes each, which is longer than on Jennie Bomb. With the extra time per track, the band manages to take each song farther allowing more slower quieter moments to help the loud moments stand out more.

When I first heard the band, the first band that sprang to mind was Siouxsie and the Banshees. Whether intentional or not, lead vocalist Maria Andersson has successfully channelled the vocal stylings of Siouxsie -- and as a fan of that late 70's band I consider this a very good thing indeed.

Yet despite their similarity to other bands, they retain a certain uniqueness that makes them stand out. If you have Jennie Bomb by all means get this record, you won't regret it. If you have neither record, then I also recommend this as it is a better introduction to the band than Jennie Bomb.


Junkmedia.org Review - The joys of standard garage rock
It's easy to see why. When originally released in 1999, the Sahara Hotnights' debut C'mon Let's Pretend made mainstream stars of the all-female band in their native Sweden. This is the kind of album that grabs you on the first listen and doesn't let go until you drive yourself crazy from playing it over and over again.

While their sophomore effort Jennie Bomb delivered melodic punk a la the Ramones or the Runaways, C'mon relies upon 1960s pop friendliness. This is not to say that the album is not punkish or heavy in its guitar sound or that lead vocalist Maria Andersson doesn't employ almost hysterical shouting to make the music pretty damn intense. It's just that the melodies on this album suggest '60s influences like the Doors, Del Shannon and Big Brother and the Holding Company (in fact, Andersson sounds like a cross between Janis Joplin and Siouxsie Sioux) more than any punk band.

Except for possibly the overly chaotic "Impressed By Me," every song feels like a hit and makes you either jump or bliss out into a dreamworld of positive aggression (if not both). C'mon Let's Pretend is something like a superalbum of simple hard rock. All of this is despite the fact that some of the songs are atypical for the Hotnights' typical style. During its verses, "Wake Up" plays like a traditional soul song. "That's What They Do" is unusually subdued for the band, sounding almost like a samba with Andersson actually singing without screaming for once. "Kicks" is built on an extremely powerful bent note neo-blues riff of the sort that Soundgarden virtually perfected. And just to show that the Hotnights aren't too retro, "I Know Exactly What to Do" uses a modern but slow bare-bones progressive dance beat.

Otherwise, though, the album mostly just unobstructedly revels in the joys of standard garage rock, rediscovering its primitive power just as the band did with Jennie Bomb. To be sure, you can't expect too much sophistication or spirituality from a group of teenage girls singing about relationship problems over inherently uninnovative music. The questionable phrasing even make the lyrics kind of hard to understand. The guitar playing is also a bit more thrummy and less precise here than on the second album. But, what the hell -- this rocks.

Jan Hrubin
Junkmedia. org Review.


You can see a complete list of all Sahara Hotnights discography, or go back to the Sahara Hotnights tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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