There’s a tradition in rock n roll for bands to self-title the album that they feel like hits their bullseye, captures the spirit of the band, that feels right to be self-referential. Think what we affectionately call the “White Album” by the Beatles or the 1976 “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.” Goodbye Honolulu have been creating for years in the Toronto scene in this band and other projects with the same friends and even started a label called Fried Records that boasted 14 bands in their hey day. But this album is what they call their “dream record.” And you can see why.

Recorded with seasoned producers Ben Cook (Fucked Up, No Warning, Young Guv) and Tony Price (US Girls, Slim Twig, Ice Cream) it finds them honing their songwriting skills to make 13 near perfect garage-infused power-pop tunes. It is a record that might put these boys on more of the world map. The band is made up of four members—Jacob, Fox, Max, and Emmett—that almost equally share the songwriting and singing responsibilities.

The record balances the fun of being in a rock band and the drama of personal relationships and a life in pursuit of your dreams. “I don’t wanna save my soul / All I know is rock n’ roll.” The recording was done in eleven days in an old abandoned theater that they said was haunted by a woman and her dog (thus the chilling cover) which added to the thrill of the experience and made it into some of the songs. “If all you ever wanted / was someone to get haunted with / well baby that’s you and me.” It’s fitting, cause these four rockers have been possessed by the spirit of rock n’ roll. This album is a near perfect masterclass in how to write rock music, by musicians deeply invested in the craft.

They are apparently a great live act and have toured with the likes of Hinds, Kate Nash, The Beaches, Luna Li and more. It would be great to see the group singing and guitar riffing the same melodies over sick beats, one of my favorite elements of many of the songs on this record, this use of synchronized layering of guitar and vocals in their songwriting. This album find Goodbye Honolulu in new waters, finding their unique voice as artists, and the album full of one killer song after another proves that they are just becoming more and more a force to be reckoned with in rock and roll.

Purchase Goodbye Honolulu by Goodbye Honolulu HERE