THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Cocktail Slippers, the raucous five-piece all-woman rock outfit from Oslo, Norway, are back with their fifth full-length album and first release in seven years. Shout It Out Loud!, released on Stevie Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records, was produced by the band, and co-produced by Van Zandt and Mike Hartung.
A 10-song trip through the world of a fiery female troop who wear both their passions and their musical influences on their sleeves, Shout It Out Loud boldly demonstrates that the best way to express one’s self is at the top of your lungs, and trumpets the band’s mission to prove just how intensely they mean what they say.
Despite the long time between albums, the band have kept busy with live shows, writing new songs all the while. The four satellite radio hits they’ve released as singles in the past few years — Excuse Me (co-written with popular Norwegian artist Ida Maria), Night Train, Like A Song Stuck In My Head and City On Fire — all appear on an album for the first time here. She Devil (Shout It Out Loud), which lends part of its title to the album, got the group’s 2021 started with a bang when the song was featured as Coolest Song In The World on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. The track features a satirically sexist, tongue-in-cheek spoken word cameo from The Mighty Manfred, frontman of longtime Wicked Cool labelmates The Woggles.
While staying true to the fast-paced garage-rock sound that has cemented their reputation, the band is confident this new album marks a step forward in their songwriting. “We write all the time, and we can write about anything!” explains Rocket Queen. “But we’ve learned that writing is often about re-writing.”
The album’s 10th and final track is its only cover, an update of the late-’60s Joe South classic Hush, originally made famous by Deep Purple. “We’ve been doing it live for awhile and this was supposed to be a B-side,” says Hope. “Stevie heard it and said, ‘This is too good for a B-side, it needs to be on the album.’ ”
After catching the ear of Van Zandt in the 2000s — interestingly, years before the actor, artist and impresario would go on to star in the Netflix original TV series Lilyhammer, about an American gangster in Norway — the group came to New York at his invitation and delivered a scorching set at the Underground Garage Festival with Iggy & The Stooges, The Strokes and Bo Diddley. They have enjoyed other brushes with greatness along the way, like a London Calling set on a bill with Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, as well as time spent with idols like Jimmy Page, Joan Jett and Blondie.
When all is said and done, the five Slippers are a tight-knit gang of friends. “When we’re not hanging out as a band, we’re hanging out as friends, with and without our families,” Sugar shares. “Hope loves both cross-country and downhill skiing and is a mean captain on her own boat.” Vega adds: “Rocket finds great joy in renovating houses.” Miss A-OK continues: “Sugar is a great photographer. Vega makes and edits movies. A few of us are more than a little geeky about cooking. Miss A-OK even grows her own vegetables on her balcony.”
The group remain thankful for Van Zandt’s continued commitment to their music. “Mister Silvio Dante aka Stevie Van Zandt gave us an offer we couldn’t refuse,” Rocket Queen says jokingly of how they joined the Wicked Cool fold years ago.”
