by MacKenzie Wilson While growing up in northern Sweden during the hey day of grunge, the four ladies of Sahara Hotnights needed something tangible to beat the boredom of being teenagers. Naturally, Maria Andersson (vocals/ guitars), Josephine Forsman (drums) and sisters Jennie Asplund (guitars), Johanna Asplund (bass) formed a band. They were already under the influence of Blondie, The Clash and The Ramones, so Sahara Hotnights structured themselves under seventies punk rock for a stylish, post-grunge sound of their own. A self-released debut EP, Suits Anyone Fine, was issued to critical European acclaim in 1997, and almost immediately things started to happen for Sahara Hotnights. They scored a label contract with the Swedish label, Speech and over the next two years, three more killer singles - "Face Wet," "Oh Darling," "Nothing Yet" - would be released. In 1999, Sahara Hotnights issued their proper studio full-length C'mon, Let's Pretend; it would later earn two Swedish Grammy nominations. Such success wasn't short of stopping, either. Sahara Hotnights got out of their drab Swedish hometown of Umea by the new millennium and signed to BMG in the U.K. The Drive Dead Slow EP appeared in April 2000 and the girls prepped for a sophomore album. The spiky cool Jennie Bomb exuded a new confidence from the Sahara Hotnights. Now in their early twenties, the dynamic inside the band had never been better and their musicianship was tight. America finally caught on in mid-2002; Sahara Hotnights and JetSet set up camp and Jennie Bomb was slated for a domestic release in September. Two years later, the band made their major label debut for RCA with Kiss & Tell.