Hello Sailor are one of those bands that need no introduction. They’re a kiwi institution, like L&P and Pav. Their songs “Gutter Black” and “Blue Lady” were radio staples through my formative years and still appear on the playlists of what the kids call the “old people stations,” the Breeze and the Sound (formally Solid Gold).

Hello Sailor have been around forever and as a sign that they’re still here amongst us they’ve just released Surrey Crescent Moon while simultaneously touring our fine country with Dragon.

Though, with 35 years of releasing records under their belt, one must ask, is Hello Sailor still relevant to New Zealanders today? 

This month we heard that James Blunt had retired from the music business, the response for many was astonishment at the revelation that up to the announcement James Blunt was still making music. 

Unlike James Blunt, In many ways Hello Sailor never really left the music scene. They’ve released two albums a decade since the seventies.  And many thanks must go to Outrageous Fortune for bringing “Gutter Black” back into the public’s collective consciousness.

Also unlike James Blunt the music of Hello Sailor is consistent, listenable and proven. Listening to Hello Sailor’s Surrey Crescent Moon and James Blunt’s All the Lost Souls, needless to say, brings two very different experiences.  There are many reasons for this, and I know the two should never really be lumped together, a Kiwi giant and a British 2 hit wonder, but there is a reason. On the first listen of All the Lost Souls I skipped every track except the first, “1973.” This wasn’t the case with Surrey Crescent Moon. 

Does it sound like “Gutter Black?” comes a question from an Outrageous Fortune aficionado next to me. Well, no.  And I wouldn’t expect it to. The band has been through so much since that song. Does all Nirvana sound like “Smells like Teen Spirit”? 

I am ashamed to say that apart from tidbits here and there, this is the first Hello Sailor album I’ve had the chance to digest head to heel. This makes it difficult to compare the Hello Sailor of the eponymous release of ’77 to the men behind Surrey Crescent Moon.  

From the mouth of Brazier, himself: “These tunes reflect a lifetime of grasping at a 2 dollar poker table, hoping for a Royal Flush, but all too often arriving with two sevens. But today, I feel we have 5 Aces.” It’s a very Bukowski-esque run down of Hello Sailor’s musical journey from the eye of an insider.  I hear it now. After reading that quote. There are hints of melancholy in Brazier’s crooning voice. Close your eyes and you’ll see a tragic Dean Martin figure on a dim lit stage holding a microphone, and a warm glass of scotch. Black shades hide his eyes, Hawaiian shirt faded.

What I can say is the sound of the album is definitely a throwback to yesteryear. A tropical cocktail of Calypso, Blues, Country and Pop/Rock. It doesn’t sound like an attempt to modernise an already tried and true sound, and that’s a good thing. In the past we’ve heard some bands go horribly wrong in attempts to open up their niche sound to a wider audience. I don’t want to point fingers at Linkin Park, Good Charlotte, Nelly Furtado, Nelly, Britney Spears, Marilyn Manson… I’m happy to say it looks like Hello Sailor aren’t ready for that list yet.

Kiddie don’t buy your dad another REPCO voucher for Christmas. Save it for his birthday. He can buy tools and toys any day, this CD will give him something to listen to when he’s out in the shed avoiding your mum. Buy another copy for your mum so she can overshare about her student days as a groupie at the Double Deca Dances in ’75.  Surrey Crescent Moon is fun for the whole family, well apart from the brooding teenagers, unless they’re one of those BoHo retro Hipsters. Teenagers these days, they just… don’t get it.

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