"Goodbye Blues," the newest release by The Hush Sound, was named one of the "Most Anticipated Albums of 2008" by the Alternative Press. This record may lack the band's characteristic innocence, but the maturity of the band shines through in both its spunky-rock sound and interpretation of the gritty world of adult relationships.
Hailing from Chicago, The Hush Sound has a one-in-a-million story. The rock quartet started when, in seventh grade, classically trained pianist Greta Salpeter met the 10th grade's resident guitar heartthrob, Bob Morris. Their search for a harder sound added bassist Chris Faller and drummer Darren Wilson, who had been playing together since eighth grade.
Then in 2005, after the release of The Hush Sound's first album "So Sudden," Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz heard the band's music on PureVolume.com. In a matter of weeks, the small-town Sound was touring with boys who wear tight pants and produce popular rock/pop: Jack's Mannequin, Straylight Run, Boys Like Girls, Hellogoodbye and the All-American Rejects.
"Like Vines" (2006), the band's second album, was recorded and released smack-dab in the middle of the group's newfound fame. It was a melodic, dream-filled adventure - the Hush Sound's first in-depth search for a specific sound. The piano work varies from ragtime to jazz and the guitar runs the gamut from distorted, downbeat slamming to acoustic ballad. The standout tracks of the album, "Wine Red," "Sweet Tangerine" and "We Intertwined," had all the ingredients for a fresh and enjoyable sound: a kickin' drumbeat, a melody to dance to and flirtatious vocal foreplay between Greta and the boys.
"Goodbye Blues" starts with an "Intro" that sets the mood for the rest of the album. "There are children whirling, laughing/ They don't know they should be scared," Salpeter croons eerily into the microphone and her voice slowly drifts higher like an operatic soprano over a badly-recorded piano.
Scared of what? It appears that the children should have been scared, more than anything else, of sex. The Hush Sound of "Goodbye Blues" is not The Hush Sound that giddily proclaimed on "Like Vines" that "Life was on our tongues - it tasted heavenly." This is an album of one-night stands, cheating girlfriends, self-determination and a whole lot of head-bopping resentment.
One logistical change on this album is Salpeter's move toward lead vocals. She sings solo on nine of the album's 13 tracks. That's a lot of Greta, especially when the boys have proven they can sing extremely well.
Secondly, she seems to be trying a new vocal style that draws inspiration from angry, soul-filled femmes fatales like Amy Winehouse. On "The Boys Are Too Refined," she growls and groans and mixes familiar Hush Sound with newfound sultriness. The boys belt, "Always quick to follow," and she snarls "The boys are too refined." They playfully respond, "Won't matter tomorrow" and whispers "Oh, to be in his mind." They raunchily taunt her, the electric guitar revs like an engine and eventually, she promises "I will be sure to shake the mountains while we dance." It's sexy and fun and a new level for the group as a whole. "Honey" is another track with tight drums and a bawdy guitar where she's deeply in love with a "cold kiss."
But on "Hurricane," Salpeter's voice is quietly powerful as she contemplates the recent discovery of her infidelity: "You're the finest things that I've done - a hurricane I'll never outrun/ I could wait around for the dust to still, but I don't believe that it ever will." The bonus track "You Are My Home" is a complicated, bluesy ballad that truly shows her new chords.
Furthermore, Bob's three tracks are excitingly raw. In "Hospital Bed Crawl," he feels "violently alone" and while stalking his ex knows he "won't take a no." It's both dangerous and disturbingly hot. "As You Cry" is full of all the breakup lines that a guy should never say, put to a finger-snapping beat, and in "Not Your Concern," he defiantly belts, "I am not your concern, the world will still turn/ When I'm not around." He's all at once hurt and hurting, pushing and being pushed away, and he's got the vocal power to convey just how much breakups actually suck.
The Hush Sound spent its first two albums dreaming and imagining what it would be like to be awake. Now they're awake - and wondering where exactly they left their skirt. While at first it's easy to fear Salpeter's overwhelming presence on this album, "Goodbye Blues" has at least six solid tracks of enjoyable heartbreak and a whole lot of potential. And in case you want to hear them live, The Hush Sound is currently on the Honda Civic Tour, which rolls into Boston on May 11.
