rom out of nowhere comes this really hot bunch of rock chicks from Sweden, with this amazing name like Sahara Hotnights. Sound too good to be true? Yeah, I agree. It seems a little too easy for Sweden to produce another exciting rock ‘n’ roll machine, after what, The [International] Noise Conspiracy, The Hives, Fireside, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Gluecifer, The Hellacopters, etc. What the hell is with this country? They must be taught how to make electrifying rock music in school or something, because it seems like they all know what they’re doing and they’re all fucking good.

For Sahara Hotnights, everything seems nicely set up. Judging from the picture on the front of the album, the band has the image down. They sure know how to dress (old jeans, white belt, leather jackets, Chuck Taylors), wear their hair and strike a pose. The fact that their debut album (recorded when they were teens) was entitled C’mon Let’s Pretend, brings up some questions about just how genuine the band is, considering the timeliness of this record. Since The Hives have created such a buzz for young, hip rock bands, a band like Sahara Hotnights seems like the perfect idea to try and include the ladies in the scene. However, the music does speak for itself.

Jennie Bomb is definitely not some life saving record that will create a revolution like The White Stripes or Strokes did last year. In fact, the thing sounds a lot like The Donnas being stripped of their sense of humor, and focusing their sights more on The Clash instead of Mötley Crüe. What it does, however, is continue this trendy garage rock thing enough to avoid any nausea and show that there is now a female contingency to compete with. Most of the record is fast, somewhat furious and filled with enough riffage to make any gearhead drool. A lot of the songs conjure memories of past British female fronted bands like Kenickie, Elastica and Sleeper, bands who mixed punk with pop, but Sahara Hotnights has the harder edge and attitude to give them enough distance from those failed acts.

What might help Jennie Bomb is that there is no obvious single that stands out and makes the remainder of the record filler. Throughout, the album is strong, consistent and always keeps the rock-o-meter high in the danger zone. The possibilities for this album are endless, now that the garage floodgates are open and the Swedish bandwagon is getting filled. Sahara Hotnights have everything a young band needs to become the female equals of The Hives, which will only make rock ‘n’ roll in the mainstream even more exciting.