There is something strange brewing in the small rural town of Wells, Minnesota–you’ll notice it when you see The Golden Bubbles. These boys have been cooking up a musical mix that aims for your dopamine and serotonin receptors.

The Golden Bubbles is a trio including Leo and Chris Vandracek and Jared Fette. Their new CD is something strange. Imagine a high school drama club creating a musical with half of the cast on acid and the other half on ecstasy and you will get an idea of what can be found on A Good Time Was Had By All.

AGTWHBA is a hyper combination of wacky off-Broadway show tune sensibility and psychedelic undercurrents. The result is manic: an elevated and elated, teeth-grinding binge of happiness. The listener’s reaction can be gaged by how much they like Polyphonic Spree, the B52s, and Archetecture in Helsinki. If these bands tickle your fancy, then give AGTWHBA a spin. If these bands tickle you to the point of irritation, then The Golden Bubbles will leave you feeling spun.

The CD starts on a high peak and only goes higher. You won’t find a sad song on the disc. Even songs like Plastic Gardens whose lyrics are about a break-up aren’t enough to bring down the cheerful orchestration. If only all break-ups sounded so good.

These boys are musical optimists with incredible vocal range. Many times you will think there is a female member in the band, yet only one song, Pretty Girl, features a woman. Rarely hitting a low note, they aim high and never fall flat.

They are talented musicians as well. Especially Chris Vandracek on the keys. His fast moving fingers shine on tracks like Progress, which has a Rufus Wainwright sound to it. Progress is the only song that calms down this hyper album. The rest are as giddy as a school girl who just got asked to the prom by the hottest guy in the neighborhood, while she was drinking her eleventh cup of coffee. It is no suprise that the band was named for a closed disco hall that became a meth lab.

The talent of the musicians, uptempo of the songs, and general cheeriness of the sound make me want to like this CD. But too often the happiness is over the top. It reminds me of a very nice girl who you would love to hang out with, if she wasn’t so happily attention craving in an overbearing way. Or like a little yippy dog who you feed a treat to to leave you alone…only in doing so it makes it more excited.

Stand out tracks: Progress, Plastic Gardens, and Hold Her Tight.

Rating: 6.8/10