hailing from montpellier, rodriguez jr. makes his return to leena with “kids of hula,” bringing the coastal sounds of his hometown along with him. after the success of “rubbo swingo”, his first release on leena, rodriguez jr.—who also comprises half of f communications’ the youngsters—went on to release records for boxer recordings and mothership. on leena’s 11th release, he has returned for a second round, once again displaying his softer side as a housey, psychedelic producer. “kids of hula“ begins on a strongly melodic note with airy, exotic chords leading the way and occasional accents of tropical percussion lining the backdrop. old-school throwbacks also have their place here, as the track climaxes with the use of psychedelic vintage sounds that recall the work of space disco giant lindstrom until they ultimately fuse together with the track’s initial harmonies to create a complex and layered final product. the b-side “pandora” begins with a more stuttered beat and a warbled, static-laced environment. the track reaches its high point with psychedelic sounds comparable to those heard on the a-side that possess a more hypnotic, melodic, and spacey twist. digital exclusive “offshore” fills its landscape with fragments of vocals and high pitched bleeps, blurps, squeals that alternate in time with one another until vintage synthesizers enter the picture. as the track progresses, the old-school synthesizer sounds and vocal snippets unite and begin to work together in unison, by the time the track reaches its peak, the vintage synths have taken on a completely new sound and direction, guiding the pulse of the track until its ending.
