Such A Sweet Hello: ALOHA

Forget yacht rock – ALOHA’s “ChinaTown” should be played on every cruise ship by maritime law. That’s not really meant as a swipe, though I’m sure any David Foster Wallace reader has already closed the page by now. “ChinaTown” just boasts this amazingly laid-back ‘tude that I associate with leisure-seeking cruisers or maybe goofy lounges (which the corresponding video kinda embraces). It isn’t cheesy filler noise though – ALOHA make indie-pop, it just so happens “ChinaTown” doubles as midnight slow-dance material. Boasting a very light tropical theme fitting the band’s name, ALOHA waltz through the verses before hitting the sweet spot that is the chorus. The singing picks up a skip, while the rest of the band adds some lovely voices to the background. Relaxingly lovely.

Unlikely surprise of “ChinaTown” – despite sounding nothing like “Chinatown” by Destroyer, both songs embrace the meme-reduced saxophone without any winking.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_VP3OULwzM”]

A little more directly twee, “恋のリズム” retains an easy-breezy feel thanks to some gentle electronic touches and the piano jogging through the whole thing. It’s bound to raise fewer eyebrows than “ChinaTown” with its more approachable structure, but it’s also a tad more predictable albeit nice.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPd67APcnbw”]