The Shout Out Louds @ Madame Jojo's, June 3 2008

Why?
The first time I heard the Shout Out Louds I assumed it was The Cure. It was on in the background. I assumed I was listening to The Cure’s In Between Days. So did the DJ, who announced in the outro... "that was The Cure with, sorry, that was The Shout Out Louds with Tonight I Have to Leave it”. There really is no getting round it. The two tracks are almost identical. The guy sounds like Robert Smith. The music sounds like the Cure. Sounding like The Cure is a good thing. I love The Cure. My buddy was going to see them, so I joined him. Simple, really.

The Venue
Madame JoJo's was once a seedy Soho strip club. There is something rather timely about being an ex strip club at the moment (actually, there's something rather timely about being in Soho at the moment, but that's another story). In a large part, it’s to do with the whole burlesque comeback and the general red light aesthetic, which we all seem rather taken with. Also, perhaps, it’s the electro-punk thing too- music imbued with a large dollop of sleaze and filth and sex has made anything visually akin cool by association. Thus Madame Jojo's works rather brilliantly as a gig-venue-of-our-times, clad in deep reds, velvet curtains, plush booths and deco prints on the walls. It feels like a swish/sleazy hotel bar from 1980s red light LA. A huge segment of the corner of the room has been dug out, dropping into a wood-floored pit and a stage raised by four feet or so. Excellent venue.

What they look like
When you know someone is Scandinavian, you see the Scandinavian in them. They are so well formed. The clothes they wear and their facial hair and their glasses and their haircuts seem to coat them rather than clothe them. The lead singer, pictured, is a dreamboat with a chiselled chin and crisp clothing. Take him home to your mum. Demure blonde on keyboard, slick slaphead on drums, lead guitarist slightly grungy, but only a bit.

The bass player, pictured right (brilliantly), made my week. Bass players are so often the default member of the band; the mate who learns the missing instrument quicksharp to jump on the bandwagon. Happily gurning along with the words and writhing and bass-slapping like it meant everything to him, he was the most exuberant person on the stage; a little chubby, with a flapping tongue, a bad neck beard, an uneven bowl cut, and a mouth that gasped like a dying fish. Excuse the soppiness, but seeing someone enjoy himself so much and being so into it was one of the most endearing things I have seen for a while. And it suited the music too- positive, upbeat, and a bit cheesy. What a don.

What they sound like
Inescapably and categorically like The Cure. With Smiths-esque strumming. Happy music that doesn’t want to challenge you, but instead wants you to flap your head from side to side and smile and dance. Fast major chords and simple, whimsical, catchy keyboards and synth xylophone rising up when the rest dips. Romantic music, with song titles such as “Your Parent’s Living Room”. The stage lights were highly appropriate... a concoction of turquoise blue and candyfloss pink. Unapologetic, daisyish, limp-wristed saccharine.

Conclusion
The Shout Out Louds are a brilliant throwback. If you’re going to copy The Cure, you bloody well better do it well. And they do. Thank the lord we live in an age when this is pop music.

pics: whiteheatmayfair on flickr, madamejojos, jay-oh

tags:the shout out louds stockholm white heat the cure madame jojo's scandanavian pop