You
know it’s going to be a good night when the first band on (Leeds’ very own Being
747) forsake the usual ‘How ya doing, Leeds? I can’t hear you!’ for a sober announcement
that they are here for health and safety purposes before launching into a series
of brilliantly jagged pop songs whilst dressed in white overalls and plastic goggles.
Songs such as ‘Use Your Friends’, ‘DIY Prescriptions’ and ‘The Girl Who Fell Asleep
Whilst Watching Her Life Flash Past Her Eyes’ have all the spike and swagger of
Clor at their best, and despite the endearingly throwaway demeanor of the band,
there are some really strong, jolting yet melodic choruses going on here. Next
on are Western Suburbs, a more generic form of indie, a chug and churn of guitars
and plain, earnest indie vocals. Deeper into the evening and our heroes,
The Shout Out Louds, stroll onstage to the sound of some upbeat Scandinavian
folk…. This Stockholm five piece enjoy a growing reputation as purveyors
of quirky pop not dissimilar to that of fellow Swedes, The Cardigans. Album
reviews may reference 80’s pop and whimsical lyrics, yet read what fans say about
the live shows and you will see more and more mentions of Arcade Fire and
The Magic Numbers - and there is indeed a grit mixed in with the polish
of the performance: To give you a measure of their energy live – one of the highlights
of their set is a cover of the Irish Rover done to indie-skiffle perfection. As
for the band members themselves – well, they seem as fashionably bemused as only
professional eccentrics in the music industry can, as singer Adam, dressed in
shirt and braces like an effete lumberjack takes center stage, while the others
hop and shuffle around him and keyboardist Bebban stares into the middle distance
occasionally fondling a Moog. To anyone who remembers Echo and the Bunnymen
and The Cure the first time round, there is something of these bands’
finer moments in the guitar chimes and bass runs of the Shout Out Louds. This
is reflected somehow in the make up of the audience from the newer fans singing
along to tracks such as 'Very Loud' and 'Oh, Sweetheart', through to older couples
catching the echoes of McCulloch and Smith, the traces of rhythm and melody from
the dream of their generation. This is sweetly barbed indie, with an underlying
drive (that becomes more apparent when you see their frantic touring schedule). One
last reference that might not appeal immediately to their PR team - there is something
of the spirit of skiffle here. I don’t mean ‘Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour
On The Bedpost Overnight?’ I mean, The Vipers, Nancy Whiskey, the wilder moments
of Donnegan, and the Levee Breakers, the acoustic rock’n’roll that intoxicated
people in the days before amps, with its quiet passions and swashbuckling rhythms
– and while this may seem like a stretch of the imagination, it might nevertheless
be something that Adam with his shirt and braces and hillbilly-chic might just
understand. Relevant sites:
http://www.shoutoutlouds.com
Irfan Shah for Crud Magazine 2006©
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| 01/06 Morning After Girls Interview
01/06 The Roger Sisters Interview
01/06 The Spinto Band Interview
01/06 The Longcut Interview
01/06 Union of Knives Interview
01/06 7/7 July Bombings London
01/06 Adem / Tunng - Live - West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
01/06 Beach Boys - Pet Sounds - 40th Anniversary Deluxe CD / DVD
01/06 Broken Social Scene - London Astoria
01/06 Camden Crawl 2006
01/06 Editors - LIve - Brixton Academy
01/06 Elliott Kennedy - Song Meanings
01/06 Four Day Hombre Interview
01/06 Gram Parsons - Fallen Angel DVD
01/06 Hot Chip Live - LIve - Caberte Volatire - Edinburgh
01/06 Jackson Analogue, Digital, Newcastle
01/06 Latitude Festival, Henham Park, Beccles, Suffolk
01/06 Liam Frost - Live - Cockpit, Leeds
01/06 Little Man Tate, Cockpit, Leeds
01/06 Monty Python Remastered Collection
|  | 01/06 New Pornographers / Spoon - Live - London Koko
01/06 NME Shows 2006
01/06 Orange Lights - Carling Academy, Newcastle
01/06 Protokoll - Live - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
01/06 Shout Out Louds - Live - Leeds, Cockpit
01/06 Airlines, Flights, Terror Plot July 2006
01/06 The National - Brixton Academy, London
01/06 Wireless Festival 2006
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October - December 2007
January - May 2008 | | |
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