Home > Music > CD Review > The Hush Sound, 'Goodbye Blues'

The Hush Sound, 'Goodbye Blues'

Chicago pop darlings stumble on disjointed third album

By Matt Pais

Metromix
March 17, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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Backstory: One of many, many bands linked in some way to Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, the Hush Sound got their break when Panic at the Disco’s Ryan Ross recommended them to Wentz. The FOB bassist’s Decaydance imprint would eventually re-release THS’s debut, “So Sudden,” as well as their tasty 2006 follow-up, “Like Vines,” which was co-produced by FOB singer Patrick Stump. “Goodbye Blues” arrives on Atlantic and Decaydance parent Fueled by Ramen, courtesy of producer/engineer Kevin Augunas (Cold War Kids).

Why you should care: Even the group’s lesser songs have a pleasantness to them, thanks to the male-female vocal combo of singer/pianist Greta Salpeter and singer/guitarist Bob Morris. The band skews closer to pop and farther from rock or punk than Fall Out Boy, preferring a sort of casual, cabaret-style purity to anything that sounds like it’s trying to reach out and grab you.

Verdict: The Hush Sound used to be cute, catchy and the slightest bit edgy, but “Goodbye Blues” feels like the shy kid in school who’s nice but so awkward that you don’t want to hang out with him. Struggling to find some fresh hooks or musical textures, the band leans heavily on piano ballads and repetitive, mid-tempo stomps that accentuate their sub-par lyricism—there’s too many lines about love, “making you mine” and, sheesh, “You’re the only angel I ever gave away.” It’s a choppy and largely average record that could have been a lot better, with the exception of “As You Cry,” which deserves a home on your iPod shuffle.

X-Factor: At least there’s an explanation for the album’s lack of cohesiveness: apparently the band nearly split up in late 2006, and a lot of the songs on “Goodbye Blues” are tunes that Salpeter and Morris wrote separately to use on solo projects but later spun into full-band pieces. We’ll be eager to hear the next set of tracks that are all intended to be the Hush Sound from the get-go, when hopefully Stump will be back on the boards.

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