Review Summary: Say hello to the new Hellogoodbye. No, really, you should listen to this album.
When I found out that pop-rock quintet Hellogoodbye had released a new album earlier this year, I wasn't particularly excited about it. Despite how long it'd been since their last full-length, and how much fun I'd had in the past with songs like Here (In Yours Arms) and All Time Lows, this was just another release as far as I was concerned. That being said, I was intrigued to find out just what this album would sound like, and made sure to check it out. I was pretty darn impressed.
Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike Hellogoodbye's debut album; it had some really fun tracks on it (like those previously mentioned) and I quite enjoy it to this day. That being said, I was not prepared for how good this album is. It's been four years since their successful synthpop album Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!, and it looks like they've really taken the opportunity to evolve their sound in that time, in a very, very good way. This evolution isn't that surprising considering the amount of changes in the lineup, with Forrest Kline being the only remaining member since the Z!A!V!D! days, but I never expected this record to be as good as it's turned out to be.
The first album was fun, but both the music and lyrics definitely felt a little over the top and maybe appealed to the 13 year-old girl in me a little too much. With Would It Kill You?, Hellogoodbye are still playing catchy pop songs with similar themes of young love and the like, but they've tweaked it just enough to create something that I wouldn't call over the top or lame at all. Considering the album that came before it, this alone is a pretty big deal.
The lyrics here are less sugar-coated than those on Z!A!V!D!, but just as much fun. The exact same can also be said for the music; the synth that previously 'sugar-coated' Kline's voice is now a thing of the past, and this does great things for the album as a whole. As soon as the first track Finding Something to Do begins, you know you're listening to a band that has matured but at the same time retained what made them so much fun in the first place. Arguably, it's even catchier than their first album (I certainly find it to be so), from the ukulele of When We First Met to the beeps and boops of Betrayed by Bones.
The lack of attention this is getting after the four year gap since Z!A!V!D!, though understandable, is truly unfortunate, since Hellogoodbye have basically released the pop-rock album of 2010 here. It is an album that should be heard, both by those who jammed out to Here (In Your Arms) all those years ago and those who totally hated it. Highly, highly recommended.
