Our Ill Wills
by Shout Out Louds
  • Record Label: Merge
  • Release Date: Sep 11, 2007
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Amazon.com
    90
    Say what you will about influences on sleeves, this is pop music at its best: nostalgic and angst-ridden, but ultimately life-affirming. Shout Out Louds have found a winning formula.
  2. Filter
    86
    While there’s nothing as instantly catchy as Howl Howl Gaff Gaff’s hits, the sweeping grandeur of Our Ill Wills is infectious, with every song benefiting from just the right amount of orchestral glow.
  3. AllMusic
    80
    Our Ill Wills is an impressive, depressive album that could scare away all but their hardiest fans in one 48-minute swoop.
  5. Hartford Courant
    80
    With such tight songs and a loose but relatable theme, Shout Out Louds easily avoids a sophomore slump--the new album is, in fact, stronger than the first
  6. NOW Magazine
    80
    The SOLs are skilled at crafting songs rooted in striking specificity.
  7. Billboard
    80
    Producer Bjorn Yttling, who brings in his Peter Bjorn & John bandmate John Eriksson and, on many of these 12 tracks, a full string section to add a kind of lush power to the group's melodic drone.
  8. No Ripcord
    80
    Our Ill Wills surpasses the band’s 2005 debut "Howl Howl Gaff Gaff" because it takes modest chances and expands on the band’s strengths, doing so cordially all the while.
  9. musicOMH.com
    80
    Shout Out Louds are back, in style.
  10. The A.V. Club
    75
    At times, Shout Out Louds sounds like a bunch of former high-school band geeks trying to recreate their record collections. And on songs like the wistful, vaguely tropical 'South America,' they sound like they're in a cavernous lecture hall, describing how they spent their summer vacation.
  11. PopMatters
    70
    Unlike on "Howl Howl Gaff Gaff," the good songs don’t stop with these two front-runners. Throughout the album, the band manages to shift between shades of regret and celebratory carelessness with a growing expertise.
  12. Slant Magazine
    70
    Our Ill Wills is a consistently stronger, more cohesive collection than its predecessor, and it positions Shout Out Louds as a more extroverted and more accessible contemporary to Arcade Fire and another recent example of the compelling pop music coming out of Sweden.
  13. Under The Radar
    70
    Our Ill Wills is generally an album of dispair and longing. [Summer 2007, p.77]
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  14. Paste Magazine
    70
    Between them, Stenborg and Yttling ensure that Our Ill Wills doesn’t sink under the weight of Olenius’ unremitting melancholy or monochromatic tonalities.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 14 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 3 out of 14
  1. EoinG
    Oct 26, 2007
    9
    Our Ill wills opens with what will be one of the indie pop tracks of the year Tonight I have to Leave it, immediately toe tapping and Our Ill wills opens with what will be one of the indie pop tracks of the year Tonight I have to Leave it, immediately toe tapping and thoughtfully arranged as it introduces each instrument, layer on layer, each uplifting the next to a bellxylophone like percussion that only makes you smile. They move onto to more catchy tracks that trip you along joyfully. You are going to hear references to the Cure (happy version) in reviews, due to vocals and melody style but there are Beautiful South and The Smiths influences there too. No masterpiece but a really enjoyable album, a hooky happy meal ,but they hold the cheese to make it (cr)edible - sorry!… Full Review »
  2. RodneyO
    Oct 3, 2007
    8
    "Our Ill Wills" delivers on the incredibly high standards set forth by the bands debut disc.
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