It”s been over four years since HELLOGOODBYE‘s debut album gave Drive-Thru Records their best first week sales ever, made the top 20 album chart on both sides of the Atlantic and propelled Hellogoodbye firmly into the mainstream. Since then, the music scene has changed drastically in many different ways and ‘Zombies!…’ Part II is not likely to get the same type of reaction. Fortunately this is far removed from what Kline and co. have produced previously.
It’s in fact such an excellent and phenomenal change in direction that this is potentially the best album of its kind since fun.’s ‘Aim And Ignite‘. This is pure pop music at it’s finest. The synths have been ditched and are replaced mainly by acoustic guitar. That’s just scratching the surface though, the multi-instrumentation evident here contributes hugely in making this record what it is. From the xylophone on ‘When We First Met’ to the swooping trombone on ‘Betrayed By Bones’, everything has such a positive impact. The ukelele and keyboard are also prominent throughout, with the former having the greatest effect on the slower but brilliant ‘The Thoughts That Give Me The Creeps‘.
The lyrics are dominated by love and girls, as you’d expect from Hellogoodbye, but these also go excellently with the music and Kline’s voice layered across everything make this one of the most cheery and upbeat records of recent memory. There will be some fans who will not approve with the change in direction, but these will be few and far between. The only concern Hellogoodbye should have now is how they better this on album number three.
JAMIE HIND