Shout Out Louds Unleash 'Ill Wills'

Swedish rockers Shout Out Louds, the ones with indie tunes and the big-eyed, beautiful blonde among their ranks of five, are back with a new EP and a new label.

After releasing indie fave 'Howl Howl Gaff Gaff' in 2005, the band toured America and the world, but when it came time to move on to record number two, Capitol Records, the home of that first imprint, dropped them. Luckily, they made friends for life on one of their jaunts, who helped them out.

"We toured with the Essex Green and the Rosebuds, who are both on Merge, and we became really good friends with them," bassist Ted no-last-name tells Spinner. "I guess they heard we got dropped and they put in a really good word for us."

The new imprint, which releases just a handful of records a year, has put them shoulder length from illustrious indie company such as Arcade Fire and Spoon, among others. The family atmosphere at the label has come in handy for Shout Out Louds, as they've been touring their 'Tonight I Have to Leave It' EP, which was released last month.

"It's that kind of [nice, friendly] vibe really," Ted says. "We did a radio station here and we needed an acoustic guitar, and a guy from another band comes and lends us one. It's a very tight group of people."

Among the other nice things that's come with Merge? An impending release of the band's second album, 'Our Ill Wills,' due for release on Sept. 11. The band recorded the effort with Bjorn Yttling of the whistling rockers Peter, Bjorn & John, in a converted movie house in Stockholm. Their writing/practice space has a much more interesting history however.

"It's in the basement of a hotel -- a sailor hotel, a hotel for the Swedish Navy," Ted admits. "There's sort of funny little characters walking around."

Though those characters didn't make it on the record, a Smiths reference sure did. The band have named one of their new tracks 'Meat Is Murder.' "What [singer] Adam's referring to is he's not feeling great, and the Smiths' album 'Meat Is Murder' is playing on the dance floor and he doesn't even dance," Ted says. "I guess it's his favorite album. I think it's a true story."