Shout Out Louds
"Howl Howl Gaff Gaff"
Capitol

What a surprise. Here we have yet another band promoted on The OC that is now being dubbed the next big thing. But that has nothing to do with the fact that Howl Howl Gaff Gaff is a really rocking album. You can tell that easily by looking at the top of the page and seeing it got a rating of “Rocks."

What I really love about this album is that they truly jump from genre to genre. It starts with “The Comeback”, a keyboard driven pop song, then flows flawlessly into “Very Loud," a country tinged little ditty that sounds very much like a certain band fronted by a certain guy from a certain midwestern city that just HAPPENS to be in Nebraska. In fact, you can clearly hear the bands influences on each song. Bright Eyes is a clear influence, but not as much as the Kinks and the Beach Boys. Harmonies dominate songs, such as “Go Sadness," in obvious Brian Wilson fashion.

Simply put, this album is not simply a collection of some really good pop songs, a problem that seems to be of epidemic proportions in music today. These songs flow together as an album should. And they are really fun pop songs. They make me happy. This is one band that delivers on their hype.

That being said, I have a bad feeling that they won’t be the success that they’re being primed for. I think that they’re going to fall into the same category as The Stills (a band that I LOVE, by the way). They get billed as the next big thing, release a phenomenal record, and then disappear.


Reviewed by: Josh Goldfarb
Reviewed on: July 6, 2005