One hot Sahara night

America loves imports. Whether they are from Britain, Australia or Sweden, American audiences can’t seem to get enough of bands with those suave accents. The Sahara Hotnights, one of the past year’s “Swedish invasion” bands, proved this theory Monday night at Alley Katz, when they won over a lukewarm crowd.

The Washdown, the only Americans on the bill, opened the show and their music was nothing more than mediocre. However, their stage energy was spectacular.

While the audience was obviously unimpressed by their rough edges, I thought that they had great potential. It’s hard not to enjoy a band in which the lead singer is determined to murder himself and his band by violently swinging a microphone aroung his head. What they lacked in musical quality they certainly made up for with youthful exuberance.

British band Ikara Colt took the stage next. Overall their performance was good, but the lyrics were inaudible a great deal of the time, and pretty boy Paul Resende’s stage antics were worthy of an eye roll or two.

In the middle of the second to last song, he pranced off stage, leaving his fellow band members unsure of what to do. He smugly returned three minutes later with a cigarette and hard liquor bottle in hand.

However, there were many great points about their set. Claire Ingram had amazing guitar and performance skills, milking each stellar solo for everything it was worth. And while I hate to admit it, Resende’s vocals sounded great, although they were hard to understand.

Neither of the preceding acts had a chance from the time Jennie Asplund (guitar), Maria Andersson (lead vocals and guitar), Josephine Forsman (drums) and Johanna Asplund (bass) climbed onto the stage. Beginning with “Out of the System,” the Sahara Hotnights blew an unprepared audience away.

Speaking with Maria and Jennie before the show, the topic of Swedish vs. American audiences came up. “Everybody has heard all of the songs in Sweden. Hopefully we can surprise some people (in America),” said Maria. Unwilling to admit a preference for either audience, Jennie said, “I don’t think (American audiences are) better, but they’re different.”

They even played two new songs that sounded great and will certainly create a buzz around their next CD. “Push on Some More” and “Quite a Feeling” were two of the best songs. Surprisingly, they were from their first album “C’Mon Let’s Pretend,” which certainly doesn’t measure up to the newest CD, “Jennie Bomb.”

Being grouped with bands solely because of their country, Jennie and Maria were confident that their music would justify their recognition in America.

“Every label is looking for a Swedish band now. You have to prove yourself,” Jennie said.

Maria’s boyfriend is Pelle Almqvist, the lead singer for The Hives, and they were the first band of the recent Swedish wave to break in America.

“I think we’ve been a band for about the same amount of time (as The Hives). We’re more popular in Sweden,” Jennie said.

Watching Josephine whip her hair around in time to the drum beat as well as Maria and Johanna’s stage presence on their solos, it was obvious why two-thirds of the audience were men. While there were a few skeezy types undressing the ladies with their eyes, most of the people looked like they were thoroughly enjoying the show.

“We have two (male) Swedish fans who drive around to all of the shows. They are polite. They aren’t scary. They just want to be able to say, ‘I saw that gig,'” Jennie said.

“Fire Alarm” and “Alright Alright (Here’s My Fist Where’s The Fight?)” were noteworthy for their speed and energy. Although Andersson was playing her guitar extremely fast, her vocals sounded clear with a raw edge.

By the end of the show, it was impossible to remember anything but the four petite women standing center stage. Although they flew through their set in quite possibly less than a half an hour, the Sahara Hotnights made an impression.