Well, hellogoodbye are a band. That much is pretty accurate I think. The genre they belong to is beyond me. What are they, Pop-punk? Electro-pop? Who knows? What I do know is that there’s a lot of synthesiser work here, and even those unfamiliar with their previous work will notice right away they’re not your standard 1 x vocalist guitarist, 1 x bassist, 1 x drummer style cut and paste band. The album had quite a good name until I actually heard the CD though, the scariest thing about it is that some of the tracks sound like German europop (Although, I doubt you’ll see any of these on Eurotrash.)
The CD itself is inconsistent. Some of the tracks are moody and dark (“Homewrecker” for instance) and others are so bubblegum soft you can feel yourself drowning in a sea of My Little Pony, marshmallows and glitter. For a band full of guys, you can see why this would have appeal to girls with the vocals and lyrics being as fierce as new born kittens (“It was love, from the first time I set my eyes upon yours”. Pass me the bucket someone…) Some of the tracks on this CD could well set the world alight, or rock-club dancefloors at least, but the CD borders on being insulting. I don’t dislike all the tracks, there are some very redeeming features here. The songs are reasonably varied, and they’re quite easy on the ears. The use of “proper rock band” and synthesiser isn’t new, but it’s used to great affect here in places.
This isn’t a bad CD by any means. It’s polished, some of the tracks are good, and it’s quite capable of making you tap your feet. However, you have to be pretty impermeable to all things sweet to be able to listen to this CD for more than an hour without feeling like you’re going to die from a sugar overdose.
Craig