Shout Out Louds

I had a vague idea of the kind of hokum Swedish darlings Shout Out Louds would conjure while propped on a stage: happy boys and happy girls dancing together as if under a happiness spell.

The night began with the fresh-faced Bird Automatic, who pertain a similar style of sensible pop that their fellow headliners are known for. A youthful and almost naive approach to song writing is simplistic and sweet, which when mixed with some lovely harmonies create some real charmers. Electronic beats are used, and fortunately, the usual pretentiousness that goes hand in hand is left behind. Grave potential.

The invasion of the Paper Scissors into every medium of your household is a most welcome one. Their hip tunes not only grace your speakers, but are also coming to you via some tiny trolley maneuvering, coffee drinking hipsters in a box. An attempt to escape their catchiness and playfulness is now an impossible feat. ‘Yamanote Line’, ‘We Don’t Walk’ and ‘Tipped Hat’ were all showcased from their brand new baby ‘Less Talk More Paper Scissors’. The Paper Scissors sure are swell.

The return of Shout Out Louds marked an important advancement in their career; the support act to international headline slide. The Scandinavian heart-throbs pranced onstage to a slightly overwhelming welcome.

The uplifting, upbeat and just plain joyous tunes were executed one after another, and watching it happen made you feel as though you were watching pretty yellow helium balloons being released up into the sky one by one.

A slight lineup change was due to some health issues, resulting in the replacement of Bebban Stenborg with another who aptly maneuvered violins, glockenspiels and keyboards.

Crowd favourites ‘The Comeback’ and the sincere ‘Please, Please, Please’ were outed early on, followed by a compilation made from a mix of ‘Howl Howl Gaff Gaff’ and the Cure-esque ‘Our Ill Wills’.

A percussive-driven instrumentation started some serious shit, leading into the blissful ‘Tonight I Have To Leave It’. The quintet left just as things were heating up, but it was all a farce for they returned for three more numbers.

Adam Olenius was the humble charismatic, using tambourines as hats and falling into the crowd like it was love. The others were all smiles and sweet moves.

While there was nothing prodigious about it, the grand, spell-bounding romance created was unescapable. Shout Out Louds GIVE so much LOVE.

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