Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff album review

Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol) Reviewed on: 31/7/06

These five melody makers from Iceland hit the right chord with this record. Uplifting, introspective, soulful, thought provoking and magical like sounds grasped me in a way that no other record had managed to do in a long time. Not a million miles away from ‘The Hush Sound’ and transpiring to a more chilled out ‘Kings of Leon’.

The Shout Out Louds manage to write love songs that give hope to the romantically challenged or a shoulder to cry on, but you wont be crying for long. ‘The Comeback’ is a superb introduction, they set the scene straight away. You get the notion that everything was gloomy and depressing before this record hit the sound waves but ‘The Comeback’ allows you to believe good things are to come. There’s no time to come down either, ‘Very Loud’ keeps rising and its time to getaway, “I always choose another way/this is why this love can’t stay”. They never remain in one place, love is the core but it won’t stop the perplexing undertone of loss . “But I got a plan, a plan to get us out of here”.

‘Go Sadness’ is the magical moment, it encapsulates the album as a whole. Very eccentric although the music is calming. “Hello sparkles and flies” Adam sings with similarities to Mercury Revs’ Jonathan Donahue. Although this track captures the album it seems to be a moment of escapism and poignant thoughts.

It’s as though the albums kicking off again after an interlude, but its never stopped. ‘Please Please Please’ is the happy dance floor song, propelling two people back together. On ‘100 degrees’ they’re back together and “in my room its gonna be at least 100 degrees”. Nothing can go wrong from this point and everything seems to be perfect.

“C’mon love is all we’ve got” (’Hurry Up Lets Go’) is the lyric that shows the true meaning of the album. This fades out, then starts again with an identical beat but this is ‘Shut Your Eyes’ now they want confirmation that the lover’s going to stay. Will they walk off into the sunset? “it came as a big surprise, ha ha”.

Howl howl gaff gaff isn’t a load of gibberish. It’s about wanting love, looking for love, finding love, relishing love and holding onto love. This timeline of feelings transpires to many different but universal endeavours. The Shouts Out Louds make a lot of sense.

8/10

Track listing

1. The Comeback
2. Very Loud
3. Oh, Sweetheart
4. A Track and A Train
5. Go Sadness
6. Please Please Pease
7. 100 Degrees
8. There’s Nothing
9. Hurry Up Lets Go
10. Shut Your Eyes
11. Seagull