It has been over four years since Hellogoodbye released their first full length album, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! . Their latest album, Would It Kill You?, is something much more than a follow-up to their successful full length debut, but a sign of evolution for a band that has experienced so many changes in the past few years. From their power-pop beginnings, Hellogoodbye has totally revamped their musical image to a more contemporary, indie rock sound. The most notable thing about the album is how organic the album is – no synths, unlike their previous works. The authenticity of The Thought Gives Me the Creeps, which solely rely on Kline’s mellow vocals, a xylophone and a simple ukulele, makes the song stand out amongst the rest. Songs like Coppertone, When We First Kissed and Betrayed By The Bones reminisce 50‘s beach rock with a touch of doo-wop. But the band still maintains their fun-loving, romanticized lyrics, like on When We First Met and Finding Something To Do. The whole album flows together magically. Would It Kill You? is quite a refreshing change of pace from all the auto-tune, synthesized gimmicky songs of the past.
I’ve been following this band for about seven years now, and it’s been a wonderful experience listening to the this band grow so much from their demos, to their first ep, to the first album, then to Would It Kill You?.
Overall rating: 4/5 ★★★★✩
