On its way to becoming Five-0 in 1959, Hawaii became a huge part of fifties Americana as continentals jetted down to the islands to soak in the sun and culture. Consequently, tikis, leis, and hula dancers are as unmistakably fifties as Thunderbirds, sock hops, carhops, Marilyn, and Elvis.
Rockbeat Records’ new box set Hulaland: The Golden Age of Hawaiian Music makes its primary mission encapsulating the pacific retro-kitsch of the U.S.’s love affair with its most recent state. Ukuleles, peddle steel and slack-tuned guitars, clattering drums, and goofy pidgen Polynesian catchphrases are all over the music on the set’s four discs.
