When Hellogoodbye took mainstream radio by storm with "Here in Your Arms," the cute-yet-groovy monster single from the band's debut full-length Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!, you couldn't hear the song without wanting to find that special someone, hold them close, and dance the night away while you sang the chorus to each other. Here we are, four years later, and it's finally time to see if Hellogoodbye can bring out the same infectious melodies they've become known for.
Before we judge the album, however, there are a few things that need to be said. After the success of Zombies!, HGb found themselves stuck on a label (the legendary Drive-Thru Records) that couldn't allow the band the resources they need to back up their unexpectedly successful album. While they were entangled in a legal battle for their independence, Forrest Kline and Co. watched bands like Forever the Sickest Kids, Cash Cash, and countless others rip off their heartfelt synth-pop sound for their own profit, while all the band could do was watch themselves slip further away from relevancy. Thankfully, the band has finally freed themselves from Drive-Thru, found a new label (even if it is their own), and with their new album Would it Kill You?, they're out to prove that their success wasn't a fluke in a big way.
Before you read the rest of this: if you think Hellogoodbye is just some synth-pop band, stop reading this right now, continue to only listen to "Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn," and don't think twice about it. For the rest of us, get ready for one of the best pop albums of the year. I'm not talking about the Lady Gaga glamour/shock pop either; I'm talking about the kind of pop you can't help but sing along to, with melodies and lyrics that are unmatched by any band out there today. Always known for his quirky lyrics (he certainly looks the part), Kline offers us his cutest lyrics to date, evidenced quite well by "When We First Met" and "Something You Misplaced." However, the true triumph is the variety and experimentation the band used in their music, switching effortlessly from fast-paced and upbeat to slower and heartfelt at the drop of hat, and oftentimes combining the two. A lot of couples are going to love this album, as its a great album to play on a date or when you're sucking face while you're "watching a movie."
Let's go back to what I said about "Here In Your Arms" again. Compared to that song, WIKY? isn't as synth/autotune driven, but one thing's for sure: you'll definitely want to find that special someone and listen to this album with them. With autotune so evident in many of the band's songs, Kline strips all electronics from his voice for the entire album, and it pays off in a big way. As it turns out, he's got a good set of pipes, and the range he displays on Would It Kill You? sets him and his entire band apart once again as one of the pop-rock juggernauts.
By now, I'm sure you've gathered that there isn't a "Here In Your Arms" on Would it Kill You? And that's perfectly fine. There are plenty of hooks and melodies on this album that will stay in your head for days, and there aren't many bands out there who will have songs stay stuck in your head and still maintain some kind of substance. Each song on the album is as heartfelt as the next, and the band's instrumentation compliments Kline's pleasantly surprising voice perfectly. The band succeeds in creating an album that flows well but never seems same-sounding or dull, and there are few (if any) bands that can say that these days. While the dance-craze synth lines are stripped from Hellogoodbye's sound, Would it Kill You? is proof that its only addition by subtraction in the end.
tl;dr: It's as catchy as you'd expect a Hellogoodbye album to be. It's not as synth-oriented, but the catchiness, heartfelt lyrics, and quirkiness are still there, so what more can you ask for?
