Four guys and a girl from Stockholm, also known as the Shout Out Louds, are the latest Swedish import turning heads in the United States. The band has toured with the Futureheads, performed at this year’s Coachella and SXSW, and will tour this summer with the Dears. Shout Out Louds started out with Adam Olenius and Ted Malmros in 2001, with the other three members joining one by one, all old friends prior to joining musically. The band released several EPs between 2002-04 in Scandinavia on Bud Fox Recordings before getting noticed by Capitol, which jolted the re-release of the Very Loud EP and their full length, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff. Produced by Ronald Bood (Niccokick, Adolphson-Falk), the re-mastered Howl Howl Gaff Gaff is an album that sticks to the indie pop equation for its blend of melancholic lyrics and vintage melodies.
The album starts off with the first song the band wrote, “The Comeback,” a great song until the song’s chorus consumes the track’s finale. First single “Very Loud” is very much the opposite from its title, as is the rest of the album’s remainder. The Jesus and Mary Chain are recalled on “A Track And A Train, also sounding very similar to fellow Swedes The Legends. The sunniest moment on the album’s dark hour is the tambourine-heavy “Hurry Up Let’s Go,” which features a EKG flat line mid-song before its reprise, illuminating the mixed sense of hope and regret commonly expressed throughout the disc. The album most somber is “Go Sadness,” packed with beautifully sung lyrics and tear-shedding guitar riffs. As it was upon its original release, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff is a great album; the band should hurry up and make another.
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