POWER pop band Hellogoodbye first visited the Philippines in 2010 for a small-scale tour organized by the Ayala Malls. After the Greenbelt shows, its members were spotted checking out a gig at the Ayala Museum. It happened to be part of a series dubbed, “A Call to Mind,” which was a production of Clementine’s independent record label, Lilystars Records. For some reason, the members of Hellogoodbye—Forrest Kline, Joseph Marro, Travis Head, Michael Nielsen and Andrew Richards—developed a relationship with Clementine and his merry band of believers. The two camps maintained communication even after the American band flew back to the US.

Fast forward a few months and Clementine proudly announces that his Lilystars Records is distributing the Philippine edition of Hellogoodbye’s latest albu, Would It Kill You? It’s not unheard of for small, independent local labels to acquire the rights to distribute albums of foreign artists, but this partnership is special not just because of the uncertain air permeating the music distribution business today, but because of the mutual respect both camps have for each other’s music. Lilystars is known for its indie-pop leanings (think Belle and Sebastian, Club 8, etc.) and the power pop of Hellogoodbye (think Blink 182 and Boys Like Girls) isn’t necessarily the genre of music people would immediately associate with them.

A couple of months ago, Lily-stars organized an album launch party for Would It Kill You? at popular nightspot Route 196. Some of the bands invited to play covered a few songs from the Hellogoodbye catalogue. In addition, Clementine’s own band, The Ca-merawalls premiered two music videos for their songs off the Bread and Circuses EP they launched a few months before. Both were co-produced and directed by G-nie Arambulo of Adphoto and Company. There was also a taped message from the band as well as a special acoustic performance of a few of their songs from the new album.

I scored a copy of the Hellogoodbye album and while I am not completely aware of the band’s complete discography, I like what I hear. There are 11 tracks, each one with an average length of three minutes. The record is charming yet sophisticated—the work of minds that are self-aware but not self-indulgent. The lead single “Would It Kill You?” is anthemic (and for a while it actually was a summer anthem of mine) and a wonderful pop song. Other standout tracks are “When We First Kissed” and “Finding Something To Do.” Fresh and uncomplicated, it’s the kind of music untainted by trends or dictates of the current atmosphere of pop music.


For a copy of Hellogoodbye’s album, Would It Kill You? visit lilystars-recrods.com

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