Hikoikoi - Hikoikoi

Rating:

* * *

Musically, Petone-based reggae band Hikoikoi have that beautifully makeshift, slightly eerie jaunt about them which lends their debut album an authentic old-school reggae feel. Singer guitarist Paul Wickham has a slightly nasally Horace Andy singing style, only more sweet rather than resolute and pleading. And they add their own injection of jazz instrumentation, which gives them a unique whimsical charm.

The brass-soaked

Children A Delight

is an adorable refrain, seven-minute long

Shameful

, with its squirts of organs and bursts of trombones, is broken up with an improvised drum solo before it launches into a swirling and swooning climax; and

Vibraphone

brings together a deadpan honkytonk piano and wheezing Augustus Pablo melodica, with a trademark Kiwi reggae skank.

It's impressive stuff. The thing is,

Hikoikoi

tends to meander, making for a relaxing trip and no doubt an otherworldly live experience. But this means it also gets a little waffly and loose - like the two minutes of noodly nothingness at the beginning of

Too Hot To Work

- and some of the driving, righteous focus of pure roots rock reggae wouldn't go amiss. The sentiment, which is more about pointing things out than stirring it up, might be too gentle for some.

However, one suspects there is better to come from this hard-working yet chilled-out band.

Scott Kara