Dance Dance Revolution

Every once and a while, its okay to revert back into a silly thirteen year old, dancing around spastically and singing into a hairbrush. Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! by synth rock band Hellogoodbye often has this effect, so hipsters may want to take caution when listening.

In a time when being cool and liking only certain types of music reigns supreme, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! is upbeat, sugar fueled, and refreshingly nerdy. Forrest Kline (vocals/guitar), Jesse Kurvink (keyboards), Marcus Cole (bass), and Chris Profeta (drums) are the four proudly goofy geeks that make up Hellogoodbye and they don’t care who listens to their music as long as it results in a smile. Like Daft Punk with a pop twist, opening track “All Of Your Love” has a bouncy beat that sets the tone of the album. “Here In Your Arms” and “Touchdown Turnaround” make for an instant dance party that works better than Xanax. The coldest of music snobs may frown upon cute lyrics such as “It’s like you gloss your lips with glue / Oh we kiss and I am stuck to you” but are bound to at least tap a foot at surfy “Stuck To You.” Departing from the keyboard driven style of other tracks, “Oh, It Is Love” is quite possibly the most endearing banjo ballad since “The Rainbow Connection.”

So go ahead and let Z!A!V!D! become a guilty pleasure or even better, blast them without fear and bop right on along. Besides, Hellogoodbye perform live in a variety of costumes, among them a banana and Chewbacca. They may not be as stylish, but they’re way more fun than countless other bands out there.