With rousing percussion, sincere vocals, and a keyboard-driven new wave vibe the Shout Out Loudspersuaded a small trendy crowd to bob along as they opened the firstshow of their North American tour Tuesday night (Oct. 9) at theIndependent. Kicking off with an upbeat version of “Time Left ForLove,” punctuated with maracas and tambourine, the stylish Swedishquintet made the whole crowd smile when they moved into “The Comeback,”from 2005’s Howl Howl Gaff Gaff. Beneath a row of colorful geometric flags, SOLs also introduced a series of songs from their latest LP Our Ill Wills,issuing a hearty pounding of the keyboard on “Impossible” and turningup the percussion to bridge into the crowd-pleasing “South America.”
SOLs dedicated “Oh, Sweetheart” to opening band Johnossi,the Swedish duo (comprised of John and Ossi) who roused the audiencewith a bluesy electric rendition of “Santa Monica Bay” from their brandspanking new self-titled debut album. If the crowd was alreadytitillated, it was by L.A. openers Nico Vega, whose Karen O-inspiredfrontwoman Aja Volkman’s crazy vocal prowess burst through herpants-less brown unitard. SOLs called it a night with a “Hard Rain”that would make the Cure proud, and summoned some accordion assistance,plus the ever-distinctive Franz Ferdinand-like punchy riffs on “VeryLoud.” Shout Out Louds — upbeat and outta sight.
We asked: The new Shout Out Louds album, Our Ill Wills, makes numerous references to secrets — what’s the biggest secret you’ve ever had to keep?
