Shout Out Louds: Our Ill Wills
Rating: 7.4 (out of 10)
The new album from Swedish songsters Shout Out Louds took me by surprise. Of all the amazing new music anticipated for this fall - and being blogged to death by various outlets - I don't remember hearing much of anything about Our Ill Wills. First track "Tonight I Have to Leave It" - a blast of Cure-inspired pop goodness that was both disconcerting and entertaining - was released months ago as part of a small EP and then I kind of forgot about the band again. First album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, which was originally released in Sweden back in 2003, but didn't come to the States until 2005, was well received, but beyond amazingly catchy single "Very Loud" (#29 on my year-end list), the album and band didn't make much of an impression on me. Their lurch into the strange channeling of Robert Smith on their first single didn't not provide any additional inspiration, so when I downloaded Our Ill Wills from Emusic, I wasn't expecting a whole lot. But this album is very, very good.
Much of the release does harken back to the textured pop of Howl How Gaff Gaff, but there are a number of great new flourishes that shows a band growing in quality and confidence, making a well-rounded listening experience. After the opening blast of "Tonight I Have to Leave It", second track "Parents Livingroom" is a sunny, catchy burst of a pop song, and "You are Dreaming" follows with close to as high a quality. The lyrics are nothing special as far as I can initially discern, but the music is just filled with hooks upon hooks of pure indie goodness. There is definitely a mid-80s New Wave vibe to many of the tracks, beyond the Cure-inspired first track. "You are Dreaming" seems culled from mid-era New Order or Echo & the Bunnymen, which might be why I seem to like this album so much. Other highlights on the collections include "Blue Headlights", 7-minute closing track "Hard Rain", and the two slowed-down tracks on the album, "Ill Wills" and "Meat is Murder" (did I mention the 80s influences? is Sweden just learning about The Smiths?). Both songs seem to diverge from anything else in the band's catalogue and are actually quite brilliant -- "Ill Wills" is a short, truly beautiful instrumental track that could fit into Do Make Say Think album, while "Meat is Murder" is a dirge-like ballad that is both touching and harsh. More of that guys, and you you could have had one of the great albums of the year. But I'll settle for this, a high-quality album that you should all go sample.
- You can stream the whole album at Merge Records or buy it here
Comments