Last night I had the special treat of rocking out with one of my favorite bands, the Swedish New Wave sensation - The Sounds. I was feeling a little under the weather and still nursing a nasty cold, but I had three screwdrivers to pack in some extra vitamin C.

Following the release of their third album - Crossing the Rubicon and their special guest stint during No Doubt's Summer '09 tour, The Sounds were totally on key putting on a fab set that left me embracing all things Swedish. I wanted to buy a Volvo after the encore.

The Sounds frontwoman Maja Ivarsson is one sexy Swede, and it's no surprise that she ended up at the top of Blender magazine's "Hottest Women of Rock" list. Maya, (pronounced Maya) is a cross between Blondie's Deborah Harry and Hedwig of Hedwig and the Angry Inch because quite frankly... the chick has balls (and I mean that as a compliment). She's tough but dainty, with a stage performance that relied on aromatic incense sticks burning on stage, a few ciggys, deep plies and killer kicks... all while wearing 4+ inch heels.

As for her concert wardrobe, Maja wore a strapless black romper, tons of layered gold necklaces, fierce black platforms and her white blond hair slicked back into a bunytail (my term of choice for any bun/ponytail hybrid).

She looked and sounded smashing in an ensemble that was more than I could ever get away with wearing, but I'm not a rock star...or Swedish.