Kiss & Tell

We usually like stories that begin with four buxom Swedish women. So perhaps it was inevitable that we'd slobber over the third album from Sweden's Sahara Hotnights. Kiss & Tell polishes up the rough, Ramones-style blasts of their younger years, channeling '80s pop icons like the Runaways and the Go-Go's as it delivers hooks, hooks, and more hooks. The formula couldn't be any more straightforward: Tunes go verse-chorus-verse, powered by punchy guitar riffs and insistent beats, and finish three minutes after they start. "Walk on the Wire" and "Nerves" retain the stuttering punk snarl of the band's youth, but these ladies are hardly dogmatic. Glistening synth lines are ubiquitous, brightening the corners when heartbreak looms on "Empty Heart" and "The Difference Between Love and Hell." There's no denying Sahara Hotnights are a one-trick pony, but it's still a pretty good trick.