![]() ![]() It’s not hard to hear the parallels between PB and J and the SOLs, both being deft pop songwriting teams with melodies that soar as much as they emote. Peter Bjorn and John’s Bjorn Yttling takes the producer’s helm on Our Ill Wills, though the band also considers him the unofficial sixth member of the band. ![]() What sets them apart is a quirky, earnest charm that’s glaringly absent from both bands’ work, making The Shout Out Louds seem a bit more grounded, if still bummed-sounding from time to time. The first is a given, as frontman Adam Olenius sounds like a Scandinavian Robert Smith, while many of their songs sound plucked from The Head on The Door-dig the “In Between Days” riff on “Tonight We Have To Leave It.” But there’s also a dramatic, lushly arranged grandeur on many songs, the sort that makes bands like The Arcade Fire thrive. ![]() If I were to succumb to the oft-overused “x band-meets-y band” comparison for the Shouts, the two that come to mind are The Cure and The Arcade Fire. In the wake of Capitol Records’ merge with Virgin, The Shout Out Louds made a shift to high-profile indie Merge, home of a band to which they share many a stylistic similarity, The Arcade Fire. That hasn’t changed on their second album Our Ill Wills, but with a darker streak and a greater delicacy toward arrangements, The Shout Out Louds have brought their focus toward the album as a whole. Two years have passed since the Shout Out Louds released their stateside debut Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, itself a reworked version of their 2003 European debut of the same name, and in that time I still haven’t been able to tear myself away from its jangly, infectious pop singles such as “Please Please Please,” “Very Loud,” and my personal favorite, “The Comeback.” It’s not so much that the album itself was perfect, but like many of their Swedish brethren, they had an uncanny power for creating incredible little diamonds of songs. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |