Shout Out Louds at Bush Hall

Shout Out Louds at Bush Hall

21 July, 2008
by: Jayrock

Bush Hall is a fantastic venue. Fancy decor, twinkling chandeliers, civilised staff and even a designated receptacle to put your chewing gum in before entering make it a nice change from some of the sex-in-the-toilet, beer-soaked dives I frequent to watch music. If you're into moshing and whooping it's probably not your scene but as somewhere to enjoy live music without being harrassed by teenagers and their arsenal of blinking mobile phones it's perfect.

The Brunettes kick things off just after half eight and thank God they're good. As a fellow New Zealander who prefers not to commit perjury, I wasn't looking forward to slating them. A six-piece from Auckland who all seem to be able to play almost anything (I'm pretty sure I saw one of the band members playing the trumpet, trombone and the guitar) quite frankly they're adorable.

They play very pretty, pastel indie pop that's catchy and pleasant to listen to but far from one-dimensional. The entire band appear to be talented musicians and the two lead singers, Heather and Jonathan thrive in a symbiotic relationship – her cutesy, sweet tones are perfectly counterbalanced by his gruffer, indie vocals. A smorgasbord of instruments, a lot of hand claps and some quirky lyrics ensure that they're fun, but not dumb. At the more earnest end of the spectrum tunes like 'Her Hairagami Set' are more Tori Amos than Magic Numbers, while the song 'Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth' ('B-A-B-Y') shows off their old school, 1950s 'Leader of the Pack' leanings and is accompanied by 'Y-M-C-A' actions that would make even the most miserable bastard smile. The Brunettes seem like an unpretentious lot who have a lot of fun on stage - definitely worth checking out this summer if you have a chance.

Sharply-dressed Stockholm band the Shout Out Louds swagger out to a raft of loyal Swedish fans (some of whom I'd heard muttering in the toilets about their failed attempts at being more 'English'). They perform a tight, confident set consisting of eighties sounding, well-constructed but slightly formulaic numbers. They would be wise to monopolise on their more unique, original songs such as 'Very Loud', which is met with a approving kerfuffle from the crowd. Lead singer Adam is energetic, watchable and sounds unnervingly like Robert Smith for the majority of the set. In fact, on first listen I can't help but feeling that a good 70% of their repertoire is just variations on the Cure's 'In Between Days' (see in particular their song, 'Tonight I Have to Leave It'). Don't get me wrong, I love the Cure, but it doesn't bode well for the Shout Out Louds when you leave their gig singing songs by a better band.

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Jayrock