Atlantic
2008
Goodbye Blues
About This Album
The Hush Sound's emphasis on mature, piano-driven pop makes them a rarity on the Fueled by Ramen roster, where the punk-pop sounds of Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco reign supreme. With songs like "Medicine Man" and "Honey," Goodbye Blues distances the band even further from their Ramen brethren, adding shades of old-timey swing music and torch song balladry to their catalog. Returning fans will still take comfort in the Hush Sound's usual mix of co-ed vocals and jaunty songcraft, but the group also shows a willingness to experiment that few of their labelmates possess. With pianist/vocalist Greta Salpeter at the wheel, Goodbye Blues opens with the aptly-named "Intro," an early morning ballad that sounds destined for playback on a Victrola, before launching into the snappy "Honey." The bouncing piano chords and semi-jazzy harmonies evoke a sense of 1930s Americana, and while that feeling has mostly waned by the album's second half, it gives the album enough momentum to sustain the weaker moments on Side B. Most of those limitations show up in the songs helmed by guitarist Robert Morris, whose vocals are certainly competent -- particularly when flanked by the harmonies of his three bandmates, all of whom sing -- but can't claim to be as unique or as endearing as Salpeter's throaty alto.
Track List (try tracks 2,5 and 6)

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