HelloGoodbye. Hella yes.

I've almost forgotten how much I love this band. They're from Huntington Beach, CA, mere miles from where I grew up in sunny Yorba Linda (part of the Orange County district). I remember after the first full length album "Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!" dropped, I was addicted. I stalked their website roughly twice a day, checking for when the new album would be released. BUt to no avail.
After a year or so of this compulsive behavior, I finally tired of cyber-stalking, and decided to give it a rest. Would they ever release another record?

Well, the other night, I was browsing CDs at Hasting's, and stopped dead in my tracks. My eyes had fallen on a CD that showed a gorgeous amalgamation of picture frames of all different colors and sizes haphazardly placed on a wall, not unlike my own wall in my coffee talk/dining room at my apartment. Enchanted with the album art, I leaned forward for a closer look. Who would have such whimsically eclectic taste? I read the name on the cover, and my world stood still: HelloGoodbye had released a new album.
After four long, lonely years, I finally could hear the new tracks I had so desperately dreamed of. But would the band be the same? Had they sold out during those music-less years? Would it be some watered down Bieber-esque pop garbage? It couldn't be. But time has a way of changing things....
Once home, I scrambled to their MySpace, poured myself another cup of coffee, and held my breath. Slowly my fingers glided over the mouse, and with a slow exhale, I prepared myself for the worst. Click. What followed made my heartbeat slow, my senses pause, and my heart soar. HelloGoodbye had remained the same. My ears were entranced, enveloped in the same style of music I had grown to love, with the same heartfelt, whiny vocals of Forrest Kline. All those years of waiting, completely worth it.
Their new record, "Would it kill you?", contains no techno/dance-y tunes like the first. Instead, they focused more on music in the style of "Baby it's fact" and "Oh, it is love" from Z!A!V!D!, with the ukulele and mandolin sounds. It reminds me of Owl City, you know, the kind of music that its impossible to be sad while listening to. The kind of music that makes you want to be hopelessly in love, or in a field of daisies holding a droopy eyed puppy, or eating rainbow sherbet on a swing set with your best friend. Adorable, happy, heart-overflowing-with-the-joy-and-beauty-of-the-world music.

Their merch store, http://www.hellagoodbuys.net, has some pretty awesome stuff. I want "Would it Kill You?" on vinyl, and also one or both of the following shirts:


Either way, they are selling out FAST, so I better choose quickly, or else I'll be trying to outbid Xsc3n3_kidz4lyfeX on eBay, and wind up paying about $30 bucks more for a shirt not in my size.

-Vixen