The Shout Out Louds - 'Howl Howl Gaff Gaff' (Bud Fox / EMI)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Like the conversation of a pretty girl who's thick as two short planks (and making as much sense as that peculiar turn of phrase), dress something up nicely enough and you're likely to pay close attention to whatever it's telling you. Such is the case with the Shout Out Louds - wonderful songs accompanying some of the most simple linguistic tricks fathomable. Lyrically it struggles where melodically it's empowered. It's a strange thing to so rapidly find fault with really, as they could quite easily reply with "OK, smart arse - you write and album in Swedish, see how much sense it makes...", and have a valid point. But what can I say, it was with a pessimistic mindset that we first met. It didn't last long. There's little else of fault.
So, there's only that one little thing to get over. Next, instead of being on the lookout for its potential downfalls, you have to go searching for something you can really get your teeth in to. The question being, seeing as this is such an immediately catchy pop record, will anything of the sort be lurking?
Bits and pieces, is the answer. Luckily the pop stuff isn't only instantly memorable, but just as enjoyable upon returning to it. That primary sparkle everything had on first listen doesn't dim. Nor, however does it brighten - with the less complicated moments of 'Howl Howl Gaff Gaff', how you benefit from them on first meeting is how you'll continue to appreciate them later. But it's a lovely feeling that these songs create, one that'll effect different parts of the body in their own fitting ways; 'The Comeback' implements the tapping of the toes, 'Shut Your Eyes' the clicking of the fingers, the standout '100 Degrees' makes the feet shuffle frantically and 'Very Loud' just has the whole frame swooning.
With other sections, there are a few more layers to peel back. The stronger sections of song writing here (and make no mistake this is very much a band concerned with the intricate craft of a wonderful tune above anything else) aren't necessarily the most infectious, the attention paid to the likes of 'Oh, Sweetheart' and an initially misleadingly menacing 'There's Nothing' overcoming that by ensuring that eventually these are the moments that will be even more memorable, crucially, because it took a bit little extra time to get there.
'Seagull', though - that's the real clever stuff, where the entire feeling of the album is condensed in to an eight minute jam to wrap things up. Words are simple, the tune beguiling, the delivery magical. You're going to start to whistle, I promise you that. Never mind if how they're talking to you is a little basic. Just like that girl, somewhere along the line there's some unquestionable genius involved in dressing yourself up to look quite this gorgeous.
Artists in this article: The Shout Out Louds
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