If you were to put the vocal stylings of Zooey Deschanel, Régine Chassagne (of Arcade Fire) and post-“I Megaphone” Imogen Heap in a blender, the silky smooth sonorous result would be Greta Salpeter.
Pianist/vocalist Salpeter, along with guitarist/vocalist Bob Morris, drummer/vocalist Darren Wilson and bassist/vocalist Chris Fuller, are one of indie piano rock’s foremost bands: The Hush Sound.
Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz struck musical gold when he stumbled upon The Hush Sound’s Purevolume account and decided to sign them to Decaydance, his branch of Fueled By Ramen Records.
On The Hush Sound’s previous studio releases, “So Sudden” and “Like Vines,” Salpeter and Morris shared vocal duties. On the new CD “Goodbye Blues,” Morris virtually disappears into the woodwork as Salpeter steps up and takes over most vocal duties. Therein lies the success of “Goodbye Blues.”
Salpeter provides vocals and piano fit for both pop radio and a 19th Century saloon. Both styles meld flawlessly to create an album that needs little help from Morris, Fuller or Wilson.
“Honey” was a marketing no-brainer for a first single. It has enough electric guitar to appeal to the pop-indie-loving masses and the holier-than-thou hipsters can appreciate The Hush Sound’s legit indie cred, and more importantly — it will sell.
If I were to choose the single, I’d have to go with “The Boys Are Too Refined.”
Given a dirty mind and a set of “The Boys Are Too Refined” lyrics (“And if the timing is right to sneak off into the night / I’ll let myself be taken just for the thrill /And if I’m given the chance to be a doll in his hands / I will be sure we shake the mountains while we dance.”) one can easily see why I dub this a pseudo-sexual lyrical masterpiece.
Incidentally, if anyone knows one of those “Too Refined” boys (“The boys who kiss and bite / They are the brilliant ones who speak and write with silver luck / They sing in clever tongues”), I am single. Please send him my way.
Morris returns to center stage for the first time on the CD on “Not Your Concern,” a lovely get-the-hell-away-from-me ditty about an obsessive lover.
Hearing Morris’ voice again makes you realize you did in fact miss him. And the small injections of testosterone are precisely what “Goodbye Blues” needs to keep its flow.
Oklahoma has the fortunate pleasure of The Hush Sound’s presence.
The band will play along with Panic At The Disco and Motion City Soundtrack at The Brady Theater in Tulsa at 7 p.m. on April 15.
I was lucky enough to catch Panic and The Hush Sound in summer 2006 at The Diamond Ballroom and can sincerely say the show will be worth the $43.75 for the tickets and the kicks to the face from the crowd surfers
The verdict:
The Hush Sound sends piano rock into its own Great Awakening with a good old-fashioned revival.
★★★★★
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