Photos by Alex Pines
The Music Hall of Williamsburg was a full-on Swede love fest last night as Stockholm-based fivesome Shout Out Louds descended on the sold out Brooklyn crowd, with Nordic brethren Little Children as openers. Little Children did their best to woo the crowd in advance of the main act, bringing an array of influences and sounds to the hall. With echoes of Fleet Foxes, Jose Gonzalez, My Morning Jacket and even a touch of ‘90s grunge, this trio had a little something for everyone – a welcome skill set in the ever-expanding musical landscape. However, their closing number sounded a little too much like a B-side from Helplessness Blues, which certainly knocked their originality mark down a notch (one female onlooker even said, “This sounds EXACTLY like Fleet Foxes”).
A marked shift in energy followed as the headlining Swedish pop outfit took the stage beneath swirling white lights. With a very dramatic and enigmatic performance set-up, Shout Out Louds pulled out all the stops in what appeared to be a SXSW warmup gig. The male-female vocal harmonies took the lead, but the extreme tightness from a replacement drummer (original drummer Eric Edman was “busy having babies”) was also remarkable. Easing into boomer “Impossible,” lead singer Adam Olenius took the time to introduce each band member, who slowly began playing their individual riffs one by one, giving off a family affair vibe that felt wonderfully genuine. With plans to hit SXSW hard, it seems there’s no stopping these indie pop heavy-hitters. Whatever’s in the water over in Sweden, we’d love to have some.