Between recording the Hush Sound’s sophomore album “Like Vines” (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen) and playing arenas in the United States and England while opening for Fall Out Boy, vocalist Greta Salpeter somehow managed to obtain her diploma.
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Make that her high school diploma. The 18-year-old recently completed her senior year at Benet Academy in west suburban Lisle.
“It was really surreal. One of the first days of the [spring tour] Chris [bassist Chris Faller] and I were walking around the building during sound check,” says Salpeter. “It was pretty empty–just janitors and the crew members–and Chris was saying, `Wow. I feel so lucky to be on this tour, but this is something we should have worked towards for 10 years and this would be our reward.'”
Fall Out Boy singer/guitarist Patrick Stump, who co-produced “Like Vines,” chuckles a bit as he realizes that the Hush Sound’s first tour was also his band’s largest. “I’m glad they still have a lot of that modesty,” says Stump. “They’re still ready to work and they’re still ready to earn it. I know a lot of bands just kind of waltz into it.”
Despite its rapid ascent–the band is set to headline Metro after less than 18 months together–Salpeter and company say they have the same objectives they set when they self-released the first Hush Sound album, “So Sudden,” last June.
“Our goals have never been to play an arena,” says Salpeter. “We just want to get better at our instruments and interact with our fans. We have more like the artistic, fun aims.”
The band’s relationship with its fans has played a huge part in its early success. The quartet’s MySpace page (myspace.com/thehushsound) already boasts more than 43,000 “friends”–a de facto street team that bombards the site’s message board with comments such as, “Wow I can’t wait for your album. 🙂 From what I’ve heard so far I’ll bet it’s going to be a masterpiece.”
The Internet also played a more direct role in the band’s fortunes. Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz stumbled across “So Sudden” after it was posted to purevolume.com, which created a domino effect. Shortly after, the Hush Sound signed with Fueled By Ramen (which reissued the album last October), scored an opening slot for FOB and landed Stump as the co-producer on its second record.
The album, much like the band’s debut, draws heavily on the bouncy keyboard pop of bands such as Koufax. “Sweet Tangerine” and “Wine Red” deliver more hooks than a 12-round title bout, with Salpeter and guitarist Bob Morris (who also share songwriting duties) trading off vocals like a suburban version of the New Pornographers. But the band also displays an ability to pull back; tunes such as “The Lighthouse,” reveal a more brooding, atmospheric side.
The new songs benefit from the mutual comfort band members feel among themselves, which has been developing since Salpeter and Morris first decided to perform as a piano-guitar duo. Darren Wilson (drums) and Faller joined the fold after the breakup of their previous band, Until Sundown. But more than chemistry, it’s the foursome’s collective youth–at 21, Morris is the old man in the band–and exuberance that fuels both its latest record and anything-goes career planning.
“This summer we’re also doing a long summer tour with Panic! At the Disco,” says an obviously excited Salpeter. “After the Fall Out Boy tours these just seem like more chapters. That one’s done, now on to the next. Where do we get to go?”
The Hush Sound, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Metro, 3730 N. Clark St. $13; 773-549-0203.
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