THE FUTUREHEADS with SHOUT out louds and HIGH SPEED SCENE at Lee’s Palace, February 27. Tickets: $12. Attendance: sold out. Rating: NNN Rating: NNN
I don’t trust Sweden. There’s something creepy about a country without ugly people. Yes, there are probably a couple of folks over there who don’t look like they were specifically engineered to star in Neutrogena commercials, but none of them are in Stockholm’s Shout Out Louds , second openers for the Futureheads at Lee’s Palace last Saturday night.
“Canada is so beautiful. It looks just like Sweden. We feel at home,” said SOL’s front-model Adam (no last name), whose stylish sweater-vest and dress shirt looked stolen from Jimmy Fallon’s wardrobe, and whose constrained vocals on the lovelorn songs from their Very Loud EP betrayed his Bright Eyes influence.
Seeming comfortable but controlled, they catapulted into their velcro-catchy pop. Bebban, who looked like the missing indie link between Cardigan Nina Persson and Lene from Aqua in a delicate white and orange dress, added diversity with Moog and the always charming xylophone.
Now that they’re down with Capitol/EMI, don’t be surprised if in a year these guys are the new Hives.
While the tech crew taped the set list for UK’s the Futureheads to the floor, some keeners in the front craned their necks to read the sheets.
Eventually, lead ‘Head Barry Hyde and his crew bounced onstage sporting early 90s jackets and ties and tight pants to complement their riotous and highly structured Franz-ish art rock. While many of their songs sounded too similar for my liking, they did have strong technical skills and the energy of Thor’s lightning bolt.
The best moments were when they did their “hits” Le Garage and The City Is Here For You To Use. Even better was when they put a heckler in his place by telling the audience, “Ey, this guy’s on speed!” before ordering the dude to “Shut your mouth! You! Shut your mouth!”
