Pau Hana – Island Lion
Reviewed by Sadie O., 8/9/07
One of the best Hawaiian roots Reggae releases I’ve come across. Musically strong (esp. the bass), very nice lead vocals and harmonies. Occasionally strained-sounding dancehall raps and a couple of rather duff love songs, but on the whole really fine stuff.
No FCCs detected. Track 12 is excellent, 4 and 10 very good. I’m not feeling 2 and 9, myself, but everything else is worth a listen.
1. 4:39 **roots bubble fades in, pretty and relaxed intro with shout outs to band members, then midtempo minimalist vibe with very pretty vocals. You can tell parties in Hana are pretty relaxed – not much gunfighting in this song…
2. 5:08 VERY mellow skank with ukuleles. Heartbreak song, with a bit of a twist.
3. 4:31 **midtempo dancehall skank. Some of the raps are a bit forced, but on the whole the sound is cool, some fun instrumentation in the second half.
4. 4:34 ****really nice riddim, uptempo, almost ska. Great vocal harmonies – it’s a hit!
5. 4:22 **midtempo skank, nice bounce, sweet teen romance lyrics.
6. 7:39 ***electric guitar and bass intro, downtempo skank, different voices work to interesting effect. I honestly have no idea what they’re singing about, though! Nice dub ‘n’ bass in second half.
7. 5:34 ***bass and vocal intro, slow fade in. Midtempo skank, Jah soldier lyrics. Very minimalist and relaxed riddim complements righteousness lyrics. Again, the rap seems a bit forced. Bit of Hawaiian pop in the outro.
8. 3:40 ***sweet Hawaiian skank with ukulele – actually a cool mashup, very relaxed, very Hawaiian.
9. 5:52 extremely mellow and relaxed skank with ukulele, love song. The Barry White cut of the album… The Hawaiian instrumentation is nice.
10. 3:58 ****uptempo skank, fairly energetic, love song – quite nice.
11. 4:07 ***midtempo skank, cool riddim, dancehall vocals.
12. 4:44 *****Nice! Very downtempo skank with chimes, fine vocals.