I went and saw the Shout Out Louds last night and am happy to report that, after waiting to see them for two years, I was not let down. Nothing fancy, just a good, solid set. Of course, they couldn't really compete with headliners The Futureheads, they're not from Sweden, so that's all I'm gonna say about that. I presume SOL will be back in the US later this summer once their album "Howl howl gaff gaff" finally gets released over here. It's about time! Those poor guys - they must be so sick of playing those old songs.

It's kind of old news by now, but Scandinavian acts The Raveonettes and Shout Out Louds are confirmed to play this year's Coachella Festival.

Here's those upcoming Shout Out Louds tourdates supporting The Futureheads:

02/21 - 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
02/22 - The Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
02/23 - Theatre Of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
02/24 - Theatre Of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
02/25 - Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
02/26 - El Salon, Montreal (CAN)
02/27 - Lee's Palace, Toronto (CAN)
02/28 - Shelter, Detroit, MI
03/01 - Double Door, Chicago, IL
03/03 - Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis, MN
03/06 - The Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, WA
03/07 - Richard's On Richards, Vancouver,
03/08 - Doug Fir, Portland, OR
03/09 - Slim's, San Francisco, CA
03/10 - Slim's, San Francisco, CA
03/11 - Henry Fonda Music Box Theater - Ballroom, Los Angeles, CA
03/12 - The Epicentre, San Diego, CA
03/13 - The Mason Jar, Phoenix, AZ
03/16 - Rhythm Room, Houston, TX
03/17 - La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX
03/19 - Gypsy Tea Room, Dallas, TX

It took 'em a couple years, but the Shout Out Louds finally landed a major deal with Capitol Records. The debut EP "Very loud" gets a proper US release on February 21 and the full-length "Howl howl gaff gaff" follows on May 24. They'll both hit Europe after the summer. They'll also be coming to the US on tour supporting hyped act The Futureheads. Dates soon.

Music blog The Blank Generation is running down his 30 top picks from year which includes Scandinavian artists The Chrysler (#23), Jens Lekman (#16), Shout Out Louds (#15) and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names (#13): http://theblankgeneration.blogspot.com/ (note: the top 10 is yet to be posted)

Sweden's Shout Out Louds are touring Germany to help promote the Atomic Cafe in Munich's new compilation of Swedish music "Åtomström". Dates:

11/24 - Magnet, Berlin
11/25 - Dreikönigskeller, Frankfurt
11/26 - Atomic Café, Munich
11/27 - Objekt 5, Halle
11/28 - Iises Erika, Leipzig
11/29 - Molotow, Hamburg

The Shout Out Louds are coming back to the US for a couple shows:

10/08 - Spaceland, LA, CA
10/14 - Mercury Lounge, NYC, NY

Streaming playlist: Nothing special

The Shout Out Louds are playing a couple more showcase gigs in the US later this month:

07/23 - Rothko, NYC
07/26 - Mercury Lounge, NYC
07/28 - Troubadour, LA
07/29 - Spaceland, LA

I suppose it's only a matter of time before they get signed and the backlash begins.

In what's looking to be one of the best festival lineups in Sweden this summer (IMO, of course), the Blow Up a Panda Festival has now added [ingenting], The Baboon Show, Shout Out Louds, Unisex, Sons Of Cyrus and The Knife and Ape to the lineup. Other acts already confirmed include KVLR, Ellis the Vacuumchild, Tiger Lou, Last Days of April, Switchblade, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, The End Will Be Kicks, C.Aarmé and more. So who wants to fly me out? Details: http://www.blowupapanda.se/

The Shout Out Louds played Camden (UK) last night and here is their setlist:

01. A Track and a Train
02. Very Loud
03. Comeback
04. Shut Your Eyes
05. Oh Sweetheart
06. 100 Degrees
07. Please, Please, Please
08. Hurry Up Let's Go

Now that summer has pretty much arrived, here's the Swedish student radio top 40 for the year by way of Dagensskiva:

01. (2, 10) Promoe "These Walls Don't Lie"
02. (1, 8) Morrissey "Irish Blood English Heart"
03. (2, 10) Tiger Lou "Oh Horatio"
04. (1, 7) Marit Bergman Feat. Cecilia Nordlund "Adios Amigos"
05. (3, 8) Teddybears Feat. Mad Cobra "Cobrastyle"
06. (3, 7) The White Stripes "There's No Home For You Here"
07. (1, 8) Phoenix "Everything Is Everything"
08. (1, 9) The Von Bondies "C'mon C'mon"
09. (1, 8) Graham Coxon "Freakin' Out"
10. (5, 7) Infinite Mass "No.1 Swartskalle"
11. (2, 7) Jens Lekman "You Are The Light"
12. (2, 7) Franz Ferdinand "Matinee"
13. (3, 5) Strip Music "Desperation"
14. (1, 5) Belle & Sebastian "I'm A Cuckoo"
15. (1, 4) Broder Daniel "Shoreline"
16. (4, 7) The Tough Alliance "Make It Happen"
17. (5, 7) Jens Lekman "Rocky Dennis In Heaven EP"
18. (4, 5) David & The Citizens "Graycoated Morning"
19. (7, 8) Syd Matters "Black & White Eyes"
20. (2, 4) Marit Bergman "I Will Always Be Your Soldier"
21. (1, 4) Beastie Boys "Ch-Check It Out"
22. (5, 6) Laakso "Aussie Girl"
23. (2, 4) The Von Bondies "Tell Me What You See"
24. (3, 4) Shout Out Louds "Please Please Please"
25. (5, 5) PJ Harvey "The Letter"
26. (4, 6) Raymond & Maria "Ingen Vill Veta Var Du Köpt Din Tröja"
27. (6, 6) Damien Rice "Volcano"
28. (3, 3) The Embassy "Wearing Our Pop Art Hearts On Our Sleeves EP"
29. (5, 4) Sahara Hotnights "Hot Night Crash"
30. (8, 5) Pitch Black "It's All Real"
31. (4, 5) Her Space Holiday "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend"
32. (5, 3) The Latin Kings "T.L.K."
33. (7, 4) The Legends "Call It Ours"
34. (10, 7) Swan Lee "I Don't Mind"
35. (5, 3) The Streets "Fit But You Know It"
36. (9, 5) Faithless "Mass Destruction"
37. (3, 3) David & The Citizens + Mattias Alkberg "Big Chill"
38. (9, 4) Basement Jaxx "Plug It In"
39. (11, 5) Graham Coxon "Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery"
40. (9, 3) Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"

Note: (highest chart placement, total weeks on chart)