When Hawaii landed, it was a breath of fresh air amidst the tiresome laddisms of Britpop. Lead Llama Sean O’Hagan was gesturing back to entirely other histories of popular music – the Beach Boys, notably, but also the free-breathing jazz of Pharoah Sanders, the rich arrangements of Van Dyke Parks’s solo albums, and the curious seventies singer-songwriter-isms of John Cale and Kevin Ayers. It skilfully evades being a mere tribute or confection, though, through the ingenious way it’s pieced together, with melodies and songs folding into one another and returning for instrumental interludes, while O’Hagan and the Llamas play with an unfettered joy that’s an absolute blast to experience. A mammoth yet welcoming experimental pop double-album recorded in a musical climate where very few artists were taking such risks.