RHUM

 The Shout Out Louds aren’t as shouty as you might think. If they shout, it’s usually at a respectable distance from the microphone, or the producer’s turned it down a little to fit in with the rest of the mix. Their music is gusty and laid back with a good wide sound to it. It’s fish and chips on a rugged, autumn beach kind of music. In many ways it’s filler. But good filler. Filler with a hint of heart.

The band is from Stolkholm, Switzerland but they’ve got a real Brit pop sound them. Work is a cold, grey and spacey album, layered but sparse. This album is their third and it’s something of an awaited comeback – it’s been a good three years since their last release, Our Ill Wills in 2007 and they’ve got some extensive touring lined up from March to celebrate.

And there is reason to take note – it’s a solid album. I guess the biggest criticism I’d have is the lack of distinguishing features the band could really call their own. The Shout Out Louds don’t have the sort of sound that they can be easily identified by. It seems as though they are their influences, rather than just being influenced by them.

The songs are catchy and enjoyable to listen to, the tracks flow together well but are also differentiated enough to prevent from melding into one long, limp track. There are checks and balances, ebbs and flows, twists in the road. The album moves forward from beginning to end, it doesn’t stay still and stagnate. However, if I heard tracks from it on the radio I could quite easily mistake them for someone else’s.

The Shout Out Louds are, in many ways, misnamed: a stand out, startling shout is not how I would describe them. They’re more likely to talk politely with their inside voices. It’s music I’d tap my foot to but it’s not distinctive or challenging enough to get excited about. Work  is a thumbs up to old influences sort of album, not dated necessarily, but it’s no great leap forward either.

3.61/5

Work will be released in Australia through Dew Process on February 26.