Swedish pop musicians have always had a slightly incestuous relationship with their American counterparts. From Abba to Ace of Base, they have managed to soak up the best, or at least the most kitschy and catchy aspects of pop Americana, give it a slight Euro spin and do us one better on the charts. Even worse, musically, they have always been slightly ahead of the bell curve. Ace of Base seemed to be celebrating the rebirth of 1990s American dance music before the clubs were even open stateside. And now, circa 2000, things still haven’t changed. The new Swedish band on the block is the Shout Out Louds and instead of blazing through the usual Swedish territory of glossy pop, they are at the forefront of the next big American thing – the return of Rock n’ Roll. The Vines and The Hives were supposed to bring the genre back from the dead, but these four guys and one girl from Stockholm are poised to actually get the job done.
Starting out strong with “The Comeback”, Adam Olenius delivers the slightly gravely vocals of mainstream indie rock while longtime friend Carl von Arbin backs him with some well-played, if slightly too controlled, guitar solos. Things really get rocking on the tracks “Very Loud” and “There’s Nothing”, the second of which features some blistering guitar wah-wahing that hasn’t been heard since Axel and his Guns N’ Roses tore up strings of summer amphitheatres a decade or so back.
Shout Out Louds don’t completely veer away though from the previous tones that have turned other fellow Swedes into music superstars. Track “A Track And A Train” features some nice harmony work while “100º” goes slightly Swedish old-school with its funky techno beat and sweetly sad lyrics. “I’m so happy/Oh, so happy/Then again, I’m always sad croons Olenius while vocally dodging a minefield of techo blips and beeps. It’s familiar enough to get the dance floors grooving but still original enough to avoid the current 1990s pop backlash.
Unfortunately, album doesn’t finish as strongly as it started. Second to last track “Shut Your Eyes” is full of the slightly saccharine lyrics that fill most of the album. A little of that is fine, but by the time we are down to track #10, this type of lyric writing borders on repetitive – to say the least. Last track, “Seagull” almost seems to be tacked on as an afterthought and is mostly moody tones overdubbed with chirping birds. A strange and very un rock n’ roll way to end what is mostly a steady head-bopping album.
All in all though, Shout Out Louds seem to have found the secret to American indie rock. Keep it simple and keep it rockin! If it turns out that the rock genre’s saviors end up being from another shore then I’m all for hanging the Swedish flag right next to Elvis’ records. All hail Shout Out Louds – rock’s next conquering heroes! |