I like pussy music. I can't really put it in any classier manner.
Death Cab (thank you, Catherine), Decemberists (thank you, Cecilia), New Pornographers (thank you, Sketch), Coldplay (thank you, corporate radio and music videos), et al.
I really like girly crooners, and elaborate bridges, and choruses pregnant with simplistic meaning that will have you pondering your (love) life for hours, especially if you're driving in a pretty countryside. There do exist occasions when I like to party with my music, in between bouts of coffee shop musings. I like my pussy music to kick it up a notch and wink at me, acknowledging that we all are slaves to fun and if it throws a piano in there too, it has me hooked for good.
Which is why I guess the Hush Sound is perfectly engineered for my "oh-gosh-i-hope-this-makes-artistic-girls-think-I'm-sensitive" tastes.
As I demonstrated, I don't really have recourse for music aside from stealing from my friends or obeying Viacom. The Hush Sound is in the former category and I can thank my friend Ben for introducing me to one of the few bands who would get the honor of actually receiving $ from me. I remember the moment too. We were in his Honda Civic and his iPod was playing and Ben said "hey, listen, this song is awesome" which he was prone to say a lot and I was thinking "meh, she's not following the same pitch progression as Sarah MacLachlan, so she must not be my thing," so I initially dismissed it, even when the guy from Taking Back the Chemical Fall Out at the Brand New Academy Disco Confessional jumped in.
And then it was in my head, so I downloaded the song. It was "Wine Red." It was the summer before we went away for college. At some point, I borrowed Ben's Like Vines (which...I think...I sitll have....) and voraciously ate up everything Greta and Bob (but especially Greta) had to sing to me. I downloaded most of So Sudden from the internet and found myself in indie/emo mixture heaven. The themes were mainly Pete Wentz, but the execution creeped on A.C. Newman. And so, I found my anthem for the summer, "Echo."
Fast forward to 2008. I run into Goodbye Blues at the Crossroads record store and I am surprised, because I hadn't heard of a new Hush Sound album. But then again, why would I? I didn't talk to Ben anymore, sadly. I was laughably broke even by my standards so Kevin convinced me to hold off on the purchase. When I experienced an unexpected windfall of funds this summer, I dropped 12 bucks on the iTunes bonus tracks version.
SUMMARY
Goodbye Blues gets zero points on originality. The tracks draw upon every successful song in the band's existing repetoire and even poach within the album. That is to say, we've got the same type of songs here that we've had the past two outings. Yes, you can see where they sprinkled in calculated moments of jazz and blues influence, but the band played it safe.
Also, the underuse of Bob Morris is troubling. Snooping on the internet implies some friction between Morris and Stalpeter that almost led to the band's breakup, and I can believe it. Bob got eclipsed for 3/4 of the album and the efforts he does make for his prominent songs are run-of-the-mill. In future albums (assuming and hoping that they exist), I want to see Bob given a fairer shake, even if Greta is the more talented member of the pair.
They may have reached and passed the pinnacle of their established sound, but I don't actively dislike a single track on the album. It's immediately become one of my favorites and I don't regret a single penny I dropped on the collection of sound files. Like I said, this band was essentially meant for my sentiments and I don't think the lyrics have ever been more on target. Granted, I got into them before I started college, so that all might have something to do with it, but whatever the circumstances...
I still love this band. If I could only hear one vocalist for the rest of my life, it would probably be Greta Stalpeter and her piano. So, for being the Hush Sound, and for having a great blend of sunshine and loss, Goodbye Blues is another win in my book.
The following chronicles my reaction song by song. Feel free to skip them if you don't want to entertain a novice. Also, "you" probably aren't reading this, so why am I giving you instructions?
"Intro."
Aw, Greta...so soothing. I could be wary of any album that feels the need to throwback to vaudeville or chamber music in order to estabish the fact that "We're not like the other bands. We're sensitive and we can be pretty doing it," but Salpeter's voice has got me entranced already.
As the title implies, this isn't a full-out effort, it's merely Greta sitting down, banging out a few notes, and lilting about how children should fear growing up and becoming hopeless without time to love. The studio background noise touch is a further reminder of how meta the Hush Sound can be. "Hello, and welcome to our album. Greta will be calling the shots."
"Honey."
Feedback jolts you out of the slumber "Intro" put you in and the band starts off with an upbeat made-for-single-consumption construction. The bridge toward the end has some interesting use of the band vocalizing in harmony over the provative line "You always let me down." On the whole, this song is fun, but a throwaway.
"Medicine Man."
You know that song "Rubberband Man" by the Spinners? This song employs that use of foot-tapping bass and percussion. Salpeter is trying her hardest to channel some jazz and blues Greats, but honestly, this song would actually be amazing if it was a black man like B.B. King delivering...As it stands, it's just cute.
The lyrics are interesting, though. It addresses the fascination women have with mysterious strangers who are only passing through their lives.
"The Boys are Too Refined."
Goodbye Blues hits my first favorite track with this bubbly dedication to thrill-seeking cynicsm. A brief tinkering of the piano keys that gets expanded in the bridge gets slammed by a forceful rhythm while Greta sets the scene. Soon, we are treated to Bob's first notable appearance in full "Wine Red" fashion, serving as the echo in Salpeter's consciousness ("Always quick to follow/Won't matter tomorrow").
The success here is the chorus hook, in which Greta seems to be having a lot of fun rattling off her hedonistic plan of action.
"Hurricane."
Here we find a true attempt to recreate the catchy sorrow of "Lighthouse" or "You Are the Moon" from Like Vines. Being a sucker for these songs, this was bound to be one of the tracks to get my attention on the first listen-through. There really is nothing to distinguish it from its brethren on the past album, except for perhaps some country electric guitar twang in the middle, but the meticulously constructed tenderness make it a formidable Earworm (auf Deutsch, Ohrworm).
Lyrically speaking, the message is simple enough to envelop your heartstings, recalling a past love. As you can gather from the title, you probably won't remember someone who left you neat and tidily.
"As you Cry."
Well, hello, Bob. This is one of Bob Morris' few solo tracks on the album, but it's a good'un. Again, he's not taking any chances by deviating from his fast paced heartbroken-yet-cheery formula, but this is a good an example of "if it ain't broke" as I've found in recent days.
"Six (Interlude)."
This is Intro's companion in non-marketable album filler, a piano instrumental that would be at home in the middle of many of the Hush Sound's tracks. Inoffensive and happy, it's a nice option if you're going to ease into a batch of music or simply want something to cool you down or unburden your thoughts. It's anytime music, really. If you count Intro, it's the seventh track on the album.
"Molasses."
"Molasses" may be my favorite all-around track from this venture. It combines Greta's carefree bounciness with her penetrating trill. The upbeat part alone is a fun rehash of the "Medicine Man" motifs, but the chorus is truly what sticks with me, since I relate to seeking something better but knowing I'll never find it la-da-da la-da-da. I think what makes it so appealing is that the song starts of playful talking about ingredients and bees and all this playful imagery and then it suddenly jolts us with the familiar longing the Hush Sound is known to incite.
"That's Okay."
Another Greta piano ballad with crippling lyrics. The song is a perverse reassuring of someone who has never been loved and may never be, someone with nothing to come back to and nowhere to go. But don't you know that's okay?
"Not Your Concern."
Bob Morris comes back to bebop and doo wop through another ballad about unhealthy and possessive relationships. Gets a thumbs up from me.
"Love You Much Better."
It's like Greta looked into her grammar school journal to draw on the source material. It's a sunny dedication to a boy who won't give the singer the time of day. Place it alongside "Hold Me Tight" as a simple expression of affection for teen girls to coo at posters of nondeserving lumps of banality.
Don't get me wrong, I like the song, it's just that teenage girls make me sick.
"Hospital Bed Crawl."
This is probably Bob's best effort at an original song, heavy on the blues riffs and creepy metaphors. Once again, the notable piece of the composition is the hook. Lyrically, it's as close to a love song as girls are going to get from the "troubled" guitarist. Such a shame it seems to be about a stalker. His effort pays off, becaue as much as I liked the formula he was sticking to so far, I may have gotten sick of it this far into the album.
"Break the Sky."
An optimistic liberation. Greta demands your attention, asking why she would need anybody else when she's fully capable of accomplishing all she would ever want.
"You Are My Home [Bonus Track]."
Before buying the album, I sampled this with iTunes and that's basically the summation of this song's ability. Greta singing the title lovingly. The lyrics continue the story of a jilted lover who has nowhere to belong anymore.
"You are Pretty Down to Your Bones [Bonus Track]."
A sister to "Love You Much Better" as a devotion anthem. Greta maintains a catchy rhythm in the chorus and threatens to speak-sing in the bridge in a catchy moment of adoration. Again, it's not a terrible shame that it wasn't included on the main album, but, like all Hush Sound songs, it's a good ride.
You know it 'cause I wrote it down a hundred times, but the Hush Sound are doing just fine. I know that they've done better, but today, it's all I ever wanted. I want to see much better, but tonight, I have no interest in finding it.
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