Wednesday, May 21, 2003 | 8:28 a.m.
Two hours to go before the Sounds tape their debut appearance on "Last Call With Carson Daly," and Sweden's hottest new rock band is relaxing on its bus in the Hard Rock Hotel's back parking lot.
At the moment, the five musicians are marveling at the security they encountered during their brief promotional tour of the United States in March.
"When we were in New York there were soldiers with machine guns standing on the corner," singer Maja Ivarsson says. "We're not used to that."
Ivarsson's four male bandmates had their own, more intimate run-in with the military during a recent drive through California.
Synthesizer player Jesper Anderberg starts to tell the story, only to be stopped cold by guitarist Felix Rodriguez.
"No, no, no," Rodriguez tells him. Ivarsson also tries to keep the tale a secret with a sharp "Shhhh!"
Undaunted, Anderberg continues. "It's actually no big deal, but we were driving from San Diego to Los Angeles and everyone had to go to the toilet.
"So the driver stopped on the side of the road and we got out, and we heard people screaming and these four soldiers came running up. It turns out we were peeing on Camp Pendleton."
The band says it was briefly detained at the Marine base before being allowed to continue on the road to L.A.
"What a weird experience," bassist Johan Bengtsson offers.
If everything goes according to plan for Sweden's latest exports, the band should be on much more familiar footing the next time they journey through America.
The Sounds' stint on "Last Call" -- one of eight shows taped at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas over four days in early May -- airs tonight at 1:35 a.m. on NBC.
Tonight's episode was supposed to be the band's U.S. television debut, but David Letterman brought the Swedes to "The Late Show" on Monday.
Rolling Stone magazine devoted a page to the Sounds in its latest issue. And this Saturday the band kicks off its first full-fledged U.S. tour in Minneapolis.
Another U.S. jaunt that will take the Sounds to the West Coast is tentatively planned for later in the summer.
"It's a whole lot different in America than it is in Sweden, being in a band," Anderberg says. "To conquer a market like Sweden is not so hard. But you have to put in so much more time here. It's so big, like 50 different countries."
Even before the Sounds' debut album, "Living in America," was released domestically May 6, the band had already generated a considerable buzz in this country.
How? With a simple red T-shirt.
In this case, the shirt -- which depicts the faces of the five Sounds -- was worn by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in the video for the Foo Fighters' "Times Like These."
"You can't complain about the publicity Dave Grohl is giving us," Anderberg says. "We think of it more as an honor. He's one of the guys who influenced me. Nirvana is something special."
Grohl isn't the only rock star already hip to the Sounds. Vines frontman Craig Nicholls wore the same red shirt when his band played the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in March.
"Lately, we've been selling a lot of those red T-shirts," drummer Fredrik Nilsson says with a laugh.
Now that "Living in America" is available in the States, it's a safe bet the band's fan base will soon extend well beyond its peers.
Even on their first spin through the album's 11 pop confections, listeners will find much to hold their attention: clever songwriting, memorable choruses and waves of synthesized bliss.
Harkening to the synth-driven days of the early 1980s, the Sounds often draw comparisons to Blondie and Missing Persons. The blonde, somewhat diminutive Ivarrson even looks a bit like Debbie Harry, though Ivarrson's vocals also have a touch of Cyndi Lauper and Gwen Stefani thrown in.
The member of the Sounds are quick to point out, however, that they weren't exactly buying albums during the era everyone assumes they borrow from. Nilsson and Bengtsson are 24, Ivarsson and Rodriguez are 23 and Anderberg is just 21.
"There's a lot of great music from the '80s, but I was born in 1979 and Jesper was born in 1981, so this is all new to us," Ivarsson says. "It can't be revival if you haven't been there yourself."
During their "Last Call" taping, the Sounds performed their first single, "Seven Days a Week," as well as their title cut, "Living in America."
The latter song features a potentially controversial lyric: "We're not living in America, but we're not sorry."
The Sounds insist the track is not a reflection of anti-American European sentiment stemming from the recent conflict in Iraq.
"It's an old song, over three years old," Nilsson says.
Ivarsson does her best to clear it up. "Some people would like to have that song for their revolution, and they can have it. But at the same time I have to be honest. It was just something we wrote around the word 'America' because it's very catchy."
And the lyrics?
"It's more or less about how Sweden is one of the most Americanized countries in the world," the singer answers. "Is that a good thing? Is it a bad thing? I don't know. But Swedes aren't very proud of themselves."
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