Review: Disco Summer by Haiku Redo

Failsafe Records, originally from Christchurch — now based out of Japan — usually focusses on bands from the Garden City.  In a departure from this trend, however, their latest release comes from Auckland-based indie rock band ‘Haiku Redo’. The album came to me with a note saying it “would suit someone who appreciates a good turn of phrase and melodic hook”. And oh, I do!
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The album starts so strongly, with ‘Thinking of You’, perhaps my favourite song on the album. Melodic hook? Tick.  Good turn of phrase…? “Whenever I start drinking; It always starts me thinking … of you”. Yep, totally relatable, and that works for me. Tick. This is a lovely little pop song with lyrics about love lost, wrapped up in a lush production. And this follows through the entire album. Did you say “chiming pop”? Yes, I will steal that phrase from the press release (thankyou Rob), because that’s exactly what this is. 

​One of the things I like the most about this album is that every song is like a little story. One of the best for this is ‘Who You Really Are’, which starts out as a love song; “It’s been two days and I think I’m in love”. There are even trumpets and a single white dove, at this point of the song. But things progressively get worse with each successive stanza, culminating for me at: “It’s been a year and I see my mistake; She voted National for a silly tax break”. Magic.

So, why has Failsafe’s Rob Mayes been diverted from his usual focus on Christchurch bands?  Well, he used to hang out with members of Haiku Redo in the U.K. in the late 1990s, when his band-of-the-time Dolphin were based there. Haiku Redo’s main-guy, Craig Horne, was the drummer for Andrew Fagan’s (of Mockers-fame) UK band ‘Lig’ at the time.

Who will want to listen to this album? Quite simply, if you are into the output from Failsafe, you will love this. Where can you get it? All the usually online streaming places, probably, but if you love a physical copy, Failsafe also now has a national distribution deal through JB Hifi, with all of their new releases on CD for under $30! 

​Ian Duggan