Canadian artists Shout Out Out Out Out (SOOOO) recently played two shows in New York and Brooklyn, their first visit to the city since CMJ 2009. The band has been on a quick tour of the Eastern US and Canada, including a Halloween jaunt at Moogfest in Ashville, NC. When asked about the festival, the band was thrilled to have met the president of Moog, plus visit the factory to pick up some new equipment (toys). What did the band think about being back in New York? They were pumped up, but also reminded about how hard it was to find parking for their tour van!
The Edmonton group, which plays live electro-disco-house with vocoded vocals, performed at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge with opening act Free Blood (DFA Records), and followed it up with a second show the following night at Brooklyn’s Glasslands Gallery with cover-up/mash-up artists Telephoned. Free Blood played electronic music fueled by heavy bass and drums. Vocalist John Pugh is an ex-member of dance punk group !!! (Chk Chk Chk), and their track “Never Hear Surf Music Again” will be in the upcoming Danny Boyle film 127 Hours. Telephoned, who dubs their style “cover-up” (since they add either lyrics or music to an existing track) got the crowd warmed up with renditions of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Cure.
It’s evident that SOOOO love to perform. Whether on a large stage at LPR or a smaller venue such as Glasslands, they brought the same intense energy two nights in a row. There was an abundance of fist pumping, high kicking, jumping, and hard drumming. They make live music fun and entertaining. Well worth a ticket price for any concertgoer.
The band has a good following in the NYC area and I spoke to two girls who came out to see them on the two consecutive nights. One of the girls was visiting from Rio de Janeiro, and just happened to catch their set on the first night. This was enough to convince her to round up friends and see them again one more time.
The group unveiled two new tracks they’ve been working on, LPR being the second time they had played these live. Lead singer Nik 7 warned the crowd they were still ironing out the kinks and that they “hoped not to f**k it up.” The new tracks “Wayward Satellite” and “Spanish Moss” are a nice follow up from 2009’s Reintegration Time (Normals Welcome Records) the latter being a down-tempo song with a very catchy bass riff.
The crowd in Brooklyn seemed to be a little more energetic than the night before and the smaller venue gave it an intimate feeling. The stage lights were dimmed down and fans danced hard to songs such as “Guilt Trips Sink Ships,” “Bad Choices,” and “In The End It’s Your Friends (who will f**k you over).” SOOOO is en route back to Edmonton via some gigs in Toronto and Waterloo, Canada. Their plan is to get back in the studio and record new tracks for their next album. Stay tuned for more from these guys, and in the meantime follow them on one of the best and funniest video blogs I have seen. Hello Internet!
