Shout Out Out Out Out’s Reintegration Time Reviewed by Eric Atienza

Shout Out Out Out Out’s 2nd album, Reintegration Time, kicks off with “Run”, a slick synth groove over a light high-hat. A steady beat is amplified as the drums fully kick in and a smooth easy electronic tune turns into a danceable IDM number M83 would be proud of. The album continues with a deceptively simple intro for “Guilt Trips Sink Ships” in which a simple beat is presented and then slowly augmented with snaps, synths and various other effects. By the time the vocoder-masked vocals are joined by layers of keys party mode has been established in earnest. The song, like most on the record, sports a bit of a breakdown ¾ of the way through before kicking back into full-on dance mode.

Cadence Weapon lends his vocal to “Coming Home” slightly shifting the mood from dance-focused electronics to a head bobbing splitting of attention between music and lyrics. It seems like an odd track to find on this record – as generally the other tracks are not lyrically driven – but ultimately it is a fun track and succeeds despite an oddly displaced feeling. “How Do I Maintain” parts I and II shift back into a more digital sensibility with an underlying sci-fi movie/video game aesthetic.
“One Plus Two Plus Three” (with San Serac as vocal guest) comes armed with an 80s bent evoking more than a little Chromeo and a whole lot of get-dirty-and-get-down, a theme repeated later in the album with “In the End It’s Your Friends”.

Like most of the songs on the record, the most dynamic track, “Bad Choices”, takes time to establish a musical base while continuously building on it to make a towering whole. It’s one of the few tracks on the album with a prominent vocal track and yet the lyrics are simply two lines that keep repeating. The way in which the band utilizes the same musical and lyrical phrases to such varying effect to build such a grand-sounding song while maintaining a steady dance beat makes it one of the funnest songs one an incredibly fun album.

Reintegration Time utilizes bits from many forms of electronica. It has a bit of the repetitive nature (or a lot in the case of the title track) that makes trance so easy to get lost in and yet a steady ebb and flow that makes IDM so catchy. Even the heavy hooks and dominant snare and high hat of “Remind Me in Dark Times” evoke some of the most successful elements of electroclash though without as much harsh dissonance.

Reintegration Time is not Oracular Spectacular or Sound of Silver. It doesn’t tell a story or pull at the heart. The soul of the music is purely rooted in the party down. It’s care-free and caution-to-the-wind dance music, and thank God for that.

For more information:
http://www.myspace.com/shoutoutoutoutout
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http://shoutoutoutoutout.com/