Work
Shout Out Louds
Score:38
Reviewer: Justin Pearsall
Label: Merge (USA), Dew Process (Australia)
Reviewed: Feb 25th '10, Released:2010
Work, Shout Out Louds’ third album, is defined by its stripped back approach. Gone are the strings, the added percussion, the bells and whistle that defined the predecessor, Our Ill Wills. In its place is the band in earnest, just five people playing their instruments with a vision of presenting their sound in a pure form.
It’s hard to judge the merits of this approach on Work, as sadly they’ve under-delivered in other areas. The melodies are inferior and the band’s instrumentation less interesting. Worst still Work lacks the energy that is such a key part of SOL’s sound. Vocalist Adam Olenius, whose idiosyncratic style gave the band’s prior albums such a punch, delivers only sporadically and the rest of the band struggle to give life to average songs.
In Work's good moments, ‘Four by Four’ and ‘1999’ are two examples, the band delivers with catchy songs that are tweaked enough to warrant a re-listen. But overall Work is repetitious in its construction. Too often choruses are repeated unnecessarily, as if hearing it an extra time will make it stronger. It's not the case. Because of this Work is full of three-minute songs that have been unduly stretched to four minutes. When you combine this with the watered down melodies it isn’t pretty.
Ultimately, Shout Out Louds nailed the title of the album. Because, compared to what we know they can do, Work sounds laboured. Where the band seemed to be bursting with energy in previous incarnations, they now are measured. And when you’re a pop band who rely on charm and pep, measured and earnest aren’t good things to be. While this may be forgivable, diluting the songs and melodies isn’t.
