The quality of the Shout Out Louds’ albums are usually comparable to the records’ cover art. In the case of their latest release, Work, this is an unfortunate characteristic.
The Shout Out Louds hail from Sweden, a country that has spawned its fair share of indie musicians (see Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn and John). Their first album, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, released in the United States in 2005, featured energetic pop gems such as “Very Loud.”
The band’s debut sounds effortlessly cool, which also describes its cover art: a well-designed print of illuminated figures on a hill. The Shout Out Louds brought a much-needed, foreign twist to the indie scene.
Two years later, the group released a similarly catchy second record, Our Ill Wills. It is clearly pop music but with more interesting instrumentals. For example, “Impossible” rings with the sounds of a full-on symphony, with dancing xylophones and throbbing strings. And the band reflects the hipster coolness of its sophomore record through genius cover art that includes its name cleverly spelled out in maritime signal flags.
The cover art for the Shout Out Louds’ new LP, Work, is minimalist. It is a black-and-white photo of the band in front of a gray backdrop, with the album name and band name printed above. There’s nothing necessarily bad about the cover, but it’s pretty boring. The same can be said about the music on Work. It is merely mediocre, with none of the joy emitted by Howl Howl Gaff Gaff or Our Ill Wills.
Work was produced by Phil Ek, who has worked with indie greats The Shins and the Fleet Foxes. Despite Ek’s contributions, the album is subpar and easily forgettable.
Sure, there are some standouts, such as “Fall Hard” — one of the only songs that sounds similar to the band’s earlier material. Lead vocalist Adam Olenius quietly insists, “If you fall hard, I’ll fall harder” and quirkily references Belgian cigarettes. However, like the rest of the album, it’s still damn depressing.
“1999” is another one of the better tracks, opening with what sounds like a piano that is falling apart and later layered with some clashing piano chords. It is a song about heartbreak and perhaps world-weariness. There is definitely a rock influence there that also permeates the rest of the album. The end of the song disintegrates into a jumbled mess of electric guitars and frantic piano; band members may be suggesting that they are so sad that they don’t even care what they sound like anymore.
But for the most part, Work is way too sensitive. Olenius’ voice is still familiarly pleasant to listen to, but it’s put to bad use, coming out weak and breathy instead of commanding, as it is on previous albums. The Shout Out Louds mostly use standard rock instruments. This makes most of the album overly simple and bland, with the track “Paper Moon” serving as an exception thanks to its violins and interesting rhythm.
The band’s rock influence, though not unpleasant to listen to, contributes nothing new to the music scene. This is evidenced by the yawn-worthy, soft-rock-sounding “Throwing Stones.”
The Shout Out Louds truly disappoint with this album, a piece of fluff with negligible meaning. They are capable of greatness, but they simply did not deliver with Work. Perhaps they were too concerned with establishing the band’s serious side. Although the effort is appreciated, the Shout Out Louds need to bring back the humor and let themselves play.
RATING: 1.5 stars out of 5
wildman@umdbk.com
