If you can believe it, I was so busy last Thursday that I missed a free private show by Sweden's The Sounds at Santos who were in town -- as part of a short US tour prior to their huge summer gig opening for No Doubt -- to promote their forthcoming record Crossing The Rubicon.

I first heard of The Sounds last year when a friend sent me a copy of their second record Dying To Say This To You. After listening to it about 1,000 times -- like almost every other MP3 I'd gotten up until that point -- I lost it when my computer got a virus. As I said the other day with Wolfmother, I've been so absorbed with all the other hot bands that have come along in the interim, that I'd kinda of forgotten about these guys until now.

The Sounds are a New Wave band from Helsingborg, Sweden founded in 1999. Their musical style mixes punk and pop/Synth-pop influences. Most songs make integrated use of synthesizers. The group is often compared to New Wave acts such as Blondie, The Cars, the Epoxies and Missing Persons. The Sounds recently wrapped up work on their third studio album Crossing the Rubicon due for release June 2nd, 2009. They collaborated with Mark Saunders as well as James Iha and Adam Schlesinger on the album.

Read their full Wiki here. They're released the first track No One Sleeps When I'm Awake from the upcoming record on MySpace, where you'll find pics, more songs from previous records (which I strongly suggest you listen to), and an extensive list of tour dates. I got a link from their PR that allows me to stream the entire record and let's just say, it's awesome. If you like the band, you're going to love this record. If you don't know them yet, go to MySpace now, test drive their songs and get Crossing The Rubicon when it drops. You can thank me later.

Don't forget to check out their official site, which is currently under construction, but has more than enough info to keep you busy.