Fans who fell in love with the sunny, short-short-sporting band in Hellogoodbye’s early music videos will be happy to hear that singer Forrest Kline hasn’t lost his sense of humor.
“It’s not very fun to take yourself too seriously,” he said.
Hellogoodbye will perform its upbeat pop music at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Blue Moose, 211 Iowa Ave., as part of the aptly titled “We’re Super Excited About Our First Headline Tour Since We Released Our New Record, Would It Kill You?” tour. Admission is $15.
While the name is a mouthful, it’s just another aspect of the lighthearted humor that the band is known for.
“It’s not a very serious tour name, but it actually is very, very appropriate,” Kline said. “I don’t think anyone put it on any posters, though, because it’s stupid.”
Hellogoodbye got its start after signing with Drive-Thru Records and releasing a self-titled EP in 2004. The record introduced the band’s carefree attitude and synth-driven sound to the masses with instant fan-favorites such as “Bonnie Taylor Shakedown 2K1” and “Call ’n’ Return.” The EP created so much buzz that the band’s first full-length album, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!, sold more than 500,000 copies. “Here (In Your Arms),” the first single from the record, enjoyed significant airtime on TV and radio stations and went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
Despite all the success, the group’s record label struggled.
“It kind of just went out of business, more or less,” Kline said. “We were left with figuring out how we were going to get our next record out, but we couldn’t just put it out, we had to fight to get off the label.”
The dissolution of Drive-Thru Records meant Hellogoodbye wound up in a legal battle with the label that lasted two years, delaying the release of its sophomore effort, Would It Kill You?, until 2010.
Always one to stay positive, Kline used the extra time to build a recording studio in his garage and create an album loaded with dense instrumentation and different hooks around every corner.
Guitarist Andrew Richards said that while the new layered approach may take a few more listenings than older songs, fans are still responding well.
“We worked a lot at the individual parts of the songs; we have a lot of strings, horns, etc.,” Richards said. “The new album isn’t as jump-up-and-down as the last, but people are still getting down to some of the new groovers.”
University of Iowa freshman Meagan Schneider said she looks forward to hearing some of the band’s new material live on Friday, noting the diverse nature of Hellogoodbye’s catalogue as a big reason for the group’s appeal.
“[Its] style can really fit anyone’s playlist, because it has many different sounds to the music,” she said. “I can bet that people who try listening will find at least one song that they will fall in love with.”
After the lengthy ordeal that the band went through with the release of Would It Kill You?, Kline said fans such as Schneider probably shouldn’t expect another record for a while.
“I put so much time and work into this record that I want to give it its due time to grow,” he said. “So not too soon, but definitely not a four-year wait.”
