The New Investors - Atun

Denmark is pretty much the last place I would have guessed The New Investors to hail from. For one, their new single, 'Atun', is in Spanish. The other thing which doesn't necessarily mark them as Danish is their sound. A melange of psychobilly and indie surf pop, some of their songs actually cause you to get sand between your toes.

The New Investors seem to be pretty keen on doing their releases one single at a time. Their discography is thus quite long, as they have been together since 2011. 'Atun' marks the first single they've released which will be part of an album, due out later this year. On top of the indie/psychobilly/surf rock style these wacky Danes have going on, there is an element of disco in songs like 'Prom King.' Modern bands they could be compared to would be the likes of OK Go or Phoenix but with different accents.

The New Investors are clearly way into American culture and most specifically 60s California surf culture. At first it seems surprising, but for a restless Dane who is maybe a little cold and sick of the dark in mid-winter, dreaming about the sunny, warm California beaches would be a quite logical indulgence. The New Investors have simply taken it a little farther by building a large part of their musical sound around it, albeit with a hefty dose of weird.

'Atun' is hopefully a preview of what is to come for The New Investors, as it is their best and most interesting track to-date. Earlier tracks don't see so much psychobilly, and this genre is a good look for the band. It mixes well with the fun and exponentially weird lyrics of the song, which are essentially a passionate agon about a tuna sandwich. Call me post-modern, but I love weird for the sake of weird, especially when it?s coming out of a Dane who has a penchant for surfboards and moondoggies.

It's not to say that 'Atun' is the only good song by The New Investors, however. Pretty much all of their tracks are well-produced and danceable indie fun. They're not all so clear-cut surf pop either. 'Friends and Furniture,' for example, has a bit of jazzy do-wop to it and Soren Tiemroth's vocals add an indie pop flare. Though the subject matter is something out of a 1960's surf movie, this track definitely leans a bit more to the east, as it were.

'Kiss the World Goodbye' is another interesting track, as it opens with a sort of Spaghetti Western guitar motif and takes quite a dark turn lyrically. As pop as the track sounds, it's actually about a jealous lover threatening to kill his significant other. There's the dark brooding Danes I was looking for.

Overall, the singles released so far by The New Investors are well put-together and have a decent range both musically and content-wise. Who says the Danish can't make good surf music? Not this gal, at least anymore. The New Investors' debut album from which 'Atun' is the first single will be released sometime around May of this year, so look out for it. Despite having a characteristic sound, I think we can expect some surprises on the new album given the band?s current musical track record. In the meantime check out their Youtube page for more fun quirkiness from The New Investors in video form. Apr 09 2015