It’s been a decade since Sweden’s Shout Out Louds released their debut album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff. It was and remains a shimmering collection of indie pop tunes, which, along with country mates Peter Bjorn and John, José Gonzáles and Jens Lekman, threatened to put Sweden at the forefront of pop music for the first time since ABBA’s ubiquitous domination of the world charts decades earlier. The only problem is it never happened.
Save for the whistling song that was everywhere for about five minutes, the Swedish indie-pop revolution never materialized. Since the early 2000s it has continued to chug along at a decent pace, producing some engaging, under the radar albums along the way.
In many ways Shout Out Louds are the epitome of the genre. In their 10 year career they have constructed a solid, if unspectacular back catalogue comprising four albums you remember liking at the time, but had no desire to revisit after a week or two. Their latest effort, Optica, continues that trend.
On the surface it should be competing for space at the business end of 2013 best of lists. The brilliance of songs like ‘14th of July’ and ‘Walking in your Footsteps’ is undeniable: both are pitch-perfect radio gems. ‘14th of July’ is the most upbeat song on the album, highlighted by a pulsing back beat and sparkling, crescendo/chorus, while ‘Walking in your Footsteps’ is a perfect combination of the aforementioned whistling song (Peter Bjorn and John’s ‘Young Folks’) and Empire of the Sun’s ‘Walking on a Dream’.
Unfortunately the album as a whole contains too much filler, and clocking in at just under an hour, is probably two songs too long. It tries valiantly, but ends up coming off like late-era The Cure; pleasant enough but lacking in any real punch.
Merge Records
6/10
Reviewer: Nick Mackay