The biggest surprise I've had in a long time was seeing Big Hello open up for the Lovelies last month. It was great seeing the Lovelies perform live finally. But, it was a special treat seeing Big Hello for the first time also. I don't think I've had this much fun at a club show like this in a long time!
Big Hello hails from the Chicago area, so I guess you can call them a local band. These four play hard-edged power pop with driving guitars, great hooks, and plenty of energy. They are led by drummer Brad Elvis (who also writes the majority of their songs) along with Chloe F. Orwell on lead vocals, Johnny Million on guitar, and Melanie X on bass and background vocals. Obviously, their names are geared toward a successful career in music! And by the sound of this cd, they may just be heading for it.
Guitarist Johnny Million sounds like he's been groomed on Cheap Trick's riffs for the majority of his playing career. The cd starts out with "Video Star". Johnny Million does his best Rick Nielsen imitation here. In fact, the rest of the cd sounds influenced by early Cheap Trick. "Boys Can Be Dumb" sounds like it's coming straight from 1983. It's a fast punk inspired song that celbrates the classic teenager feelings about love, without sounding predictible. Chloe's voice takes a nice soulful approach to "Can't Get You Out of My Mind", which wouldn't sound too out of place on a Garbage album. Her voice is diverse enough to handle all the fast and fun numbers as well as the more subdued songs that require more feeling and expression. They also find ways to put in some pretty clever lyrics. "In My Mind" explores the fantasy of a band making it big. Chloe sings: "In Brad's perfect world, Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, they become great big stars and find good parking for their cars". Yeah, I guess it would be nice if every quality rock group got the money they deserve for their efforts. Chloe and Melanie's voices harmonize well on "Pretty World in the Dark" and "Action Now" with the latter song coming off like an up-beat antheme.
If you live in the Chicago area, you are extremely lucky to have a band this exciting! They also play as a cover band under the name "Video Stars". Here's hoping that they make more trips to the Milwaukee area.
