Shout Out Louds

Swedish music has never sounded so good, with quality folk, rock and electronic music flowing from the country over previous years, it is not strange that people across the globe know the sounds of Mellincollin, The Knife and Jose Gonzales. However when naming iconic Swedish musicians and bands, there is one famous pop outfit that slipped through unmentioned – the Shout Out Louds – and it was this very group that blew the roof off The Zoo on Thursday the 24th of August. Supported by Iron On and Bird Automatic, the entire night was a feast of fast catchy indie-pop-rock tunes, and when you’re getting ready for the beginning of the weekend…. what could be better?

Bird Automatic kicked off the night in a true Brisbane rock fashion, blowing the small, but growing, crowd away with their upbeat rock ballads and inspirational guitar work. However, loud and impressive, these guys definitely need to work on their stage performance or interaction with the crowd, many a time it seemed they were performing to an empty hall, but maybe the author is just used to rocking up late and therefore to the bigger crowds?

Iron On were the next on the bill, hailing from Adelaide, they’re a small four piece band that pump out some awesome indie-punk-rock. However as the band reached the stage, a small portion of the crowd was instantly sent into bewilderment – was the lead guitarist, who was dressed in tight, black punk jeans and donning a flannelette shirt underneath a short, messy come-over hair style – a male or female? But as soon as you heard the guitar chords and the lighter vocals resonate through the room, it was no laughing matter, this member of the band was evidently a female, and she came here to do one thing – rock on! After a shakey start, Iron On found true form and got into the full swing of things, busting out rock tune after rock tune and all with fun, original lyrics - “I’m a one man band, Up for a one night stand”. Sounding a bit like a genetic experiment between Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182, the entire set reminded the author of a high school anthem mix tape, and although every song sounded familiar it definitely possessed a fresh angle or melody I couldn’t put my finger on, which made it all the more exciting.

Although tight and succinct, Iron On had nothing on the very well polished Swede’s – the Shout Out Louds. Since they released their first album Howl Howl, Gaff Gaff (HH,GG) in 2005, which instantly took off in Australia after airplay on Triple J with famous tracks like 'The Comeback' and 'Very Loud', the band has been on a non-stop roller coaster ride to the top of the pop-rock scene. Acquiring their long time friend – Bjorn (yes from “Peter, Bjorn and John”), to manage the production of their latest album Our Ill Wills, the Shout Out Louds have created something magical. By fusing a number of original percussion samples and amazing key melodies with the distinct SOL guitar riffs, these guys have never been in better form. And their live gig last month showed this latest work of art off in unprecident fashion!

Kicking off with 'Tonight I have to leave it', the opener off their latest album, they quickly followed with the classic 'The Comeback', both of which illustrating not only the bands esteemed capability of how to put on a show, but also how much their music can change and evolve. Boasting Viking flags above their set, depicting the symbols from the Our Ill Wills cover, the bands knowledge of one another stook out like a sore thumb with improvised solo’s from pretty much every instrument along with longer renditions on majority of their more well known tracks.

Cruising through songs like '100 degrees' and 'Parents Living Room', much to the pleasure of the crowd, it seems the SOL’s have an uncanny ability of lifting the crowd to high’s that have never been experienced by man! It may sound like a bribe was thrown the authors way, but nothing could be far from the truth with the band encoring with 'Impossible' and also the Howl Howl, Gaff Gaff hit 'Very Loud' – I have been floating on a high for the past fortnight! Swedish music has never sounded so good with the Shout Out Louds!

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