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Sahara Hotnights
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Reviews of the two albums released by SH.

by Mikael

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Sahara Hotnights - C'Mon Let's Pretend
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First time I heard this record I felt like just jumping up on a table and scream.
Just when the rock scene for me was on a dangerous quiet phase in time this came into my ears.
It's brilliant songs. Arrogant and clever lyrics. Energy. Tons of energy.
And the unique feeling of hunger and eagerness. A feeling that the people playing are so obsessed of their music that
they are almost floating some centimeters above ground
while playing.
You can almost hear them saying straight to you that they are the best and that they will put the whole fucking
universe under their feets.
You hear a charismatic and powerful singer that creeps up behind your back.
And with a totally own and perfect style.

You can find many influences in Sahara Hotnights raw and wonderful melody based guitar rock.
Like Neil Young, Sex Pistols, and the Beatles. Even PJ Harvey at times.
But unlike many other bands SH are able to transform all these influences into something totally their own.
C'mon Let's Pretend is definitely one of the greatest debut albums coming out from Sweden.
In class with Ebba Gron's We're Only In It For The Drugs and Kent's Selftitled debut album.

I kept what I am about to say for the last sentence cos the music world is still a male orianted field.
And especially rock music.
These four persons in Sahara Hotnights were 18 and 19 years old when this amazing album was recorded.
And they are girls.
If music society would be fair this would have become as an important debut album as Kent's first one or Ebba Grn's,
as said above, but sadly it will never be that.
But in my rock music heart it will always have a big place. And it deserves it fully out.
Especially if you will see what would come after this.

Live

Sahara Hotnights - Live Action In Nantes, France

Sahara Hotnights - Jennie Bomb
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Sometimes records comes into your world that just..sticks on you. And keep on sticking in your mind.
Like glue. Sahara Hotnight's first album was that for me. It sounded so amazing and so good and I
kept listening to the record non stop for weeks almost. But after a while you realise that even though
it is an amazing album, something is missing for making it a masterpiece.
I still rate the album as one of the greatest ones I have. But something in it is missing that would
make it even better. Maybe it was frustration that they were girls and the knowledge that due to that
they will never become as big as they deserve. That was what I thought back then.
But when I heard their follow up album I realised that they didn't think like that. Why the first album
was not the masterpiece in full, was that they knew they had more in them. But that they had to get
something out at first. It's a bit like as Oasis did with DM, they had the songs so they could get it out.
And see what followed that album...
You can't really say Jennie Bomb is what Morning Glory is for Oasis. It's two different music styles
in a way. But it's close to be that anyway. Excluding the styles.
Cos Jennie Bomb is almost perfection. It is why Sahara Hotnights became a band.
It's small crystal clear punk/rock songs that gives you such a strong here and now feeling.
And they play them extraordinary great. Making every little thing fit perfectly in the whole.
But still giving to you that feeling of that it's played live. They haven't messed around in the studio too
much. They have come in, picked up their instruments and played and giving their songs their love.
And they have given eachother support with help of their playing. Maria sings better than ever.
Jennie plays the guitar like a female Johnny Marr with punk. Josephine bangs the drums like a
newly waken up from the grave Keith Moon. And Johanna gives the beats like a marching army.
It's near close to perfection. And it's four instruments, along Maria's voice and then there are the
amazing songs. It's all you need. And it feels so good when it's as successful as on this record.
Buy it. And you will fall in love with rock music all over again.
And realise that Rock'n'Roll Will Never Die.

Here's a run down of the songs on the album.

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Alright Alright (Here's My Fist Where's The Fight?)
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Starts off with drums, guitars and bass all in one and in perfect harmony. You get hit right in the face
instantly. It's pure rock and it's incredibly catchy. The lyrics fits perfectly with the music.
Pure arrogance and power. "I wanna make some noice! Alright Alright! I wanna drop some bombs!"
Clocking in at 2.06 makes it a perfect punk and powerful song.
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On Top Of Your World
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The first single from the record and again it has a perfect melody. And speed. Not as speedy as the
first song though. Probably a song that can be defined as vintage Sahara Hotnights.
Catchy and rocky as hell. Just a fantastic single.
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Fire Alarm
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Starts off with some kind of alarm and then wonderful guitar and bass licking kicks in.
Still really rocky though.
But the lyrics and the vibes you get makes it rather melancholic. But nothing bad in that cos the
melody is just so amazing. Oh, and of course the chorus is unbelievably catchy as always.
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With Or Without Control
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It just keeps going. Yet another wonderful melody starts. And Maria's voice is sounding incredible.
Just as on the first three songs. This song is a bit more calmer at first. Calm in the sense it's not as
speedy as the first songs. You can already distinguish two things. Firstly, as mentioned, Maria's voice
is clear and powerful and totally amazing. Second, Jennie, the lead guitarist has transformed into
one hell of a guitar player. Every riff, every chord, are just wonderfully played by her.
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Keep Up The Speed
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So the last song was a bit calm. Well, let's pick up the speed..and keep it up. A pure "normal" rock
song that oozes of Stooges and the 70's. But with a modern vibe to it. The lyrics are rather "normal"
too but fits the song and makes the whole song one step more amazing. Songs like these needs to exist.
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No Big Deal
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A song that is a testify that Maria's voice is more than amazing really. She sings the song really, really
fast and the song has two modes. But she keeps singing the lower and upper and faster parts as if it
was nothing. Her voice is born to be rock. And the song in itself is punk, punk, punk with a female twist,
looking at the lyrics. The song is less than two minutes long.
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Down And Out
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Again a song that can be said to be vintage Sahara Hotnights probably. I'm not too fond of this one.
But it's not bad at all. The melody is a bit calmer but still rocky and amazing. By now you are getting
almost too overwhelmed on how the hell they can keep it up. Song after song so far it has been nothing
less than fantastic. What makes me not like this song as much as the rest are the lyrics, they are just a bit
too boring..at points they are amazing though. It's a great song though. No doubt about that.
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Only The Fakes Survive
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Another amazing start of the song. Again it's a bit calmer but still rocky. The vocals are crystal clear.
And the melody is totally catchy once again. The outro is almost the best thing cos then both Jennie and
Johanna does the backing vocals. A really nice touch to the song.
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Whirlwind Reaper
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The second song that are not as good as the rest but still great. Lyrics once again are the thing that
makes me like it a bit less. This time it's a bit too depressing. Still amazing lyrics but not in my mood
when I listen to this kind of record. The song in itself are beautiful though. Could have made a good
upbeat love song instead. A nice piano in the bridge gives it a sort of Kent-ish feel to it.
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Fall Into Line
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When I first heard this song I instantly felt in love with it. Thinking it was one of the best rock songs
I've heard from the last 10 years. Guess it was a bit too soon to say that, but I still think it is almost
that good to get on that list. The only thing you can really say negative about it is that maybe the chorus
could have been a bit catchier. But that's just looking for a needle in a desert.
Listen to the guitar riff throughout the song. Rock hardly gets any better than that.
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Are You Happy Now?
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A fantastic song. I can't really say much more about it. It is a fantastic song.
Listen and enjoy.
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Out Of The System
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The song they ended their concerts with until now at least. A great speedy rock song once again.
Really punk inspired lyrics, and music, just look at the song title. The rest of the lyrics goes in the
same path. Maria's voice is sort of distordered, which give it yet a bit more punk feeling to it.
And what would a song on this album be without an amazingly catchy chorus, so of course there is one
on this song too.
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A Perfect Mess
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Only song over 4 minutes on Jennie Bomb. And sadly, it shows it wasnt a good thing. A bit too monotone
and a bit too boring and slow for this album. It really doesn't fit, but most likely they wanted to end
the album with a slow song. Sadly they could have removed this one and put Whirlwind Reaper here instead
if they wanted a slow song. But the song isn't really bad in itself, it has a great groove to it.