Shout Out Louds @ Cabaret Voltaire, 7 Aug

If, as popular conception dictates, Swedes really do only follow one of two musical extremes - church-burning black metal or polyphonic, wide-eyed pop - then Shout Out Louds have definitely chosen the latter. The Stockholm quintet combine the dreamy ambience of The Cure with the resonant guitar of U2, adding their own lush harmonies and tropicana beats. It's the sort of harmless, sugary indie-pop that American film and TV studios dribble over, and in person, Shout Out Louds have the look to match their mass-market appeal, with pretty-boy singer Adam Olenius and elfin blonde Bebban Stenborg on keyboards. But it's precisely this clean-cut image that detracts further from their limited musical excitement, especially in a live setting. Tracks from latest LP Our Ill Wills - particularly Tonight I Have To Leave It - do manage to perforate the general flatness, but these are exceptions to the humdrum rule. [Nick Mitchell]