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Telestjernen & Manden De Kaldte Lefty

Det Kolde Hawaii

Written by: PP on 31/12/2014 01:25:29

Here's one of the strangest album submissions we've received by a Danish group in a while, one that's so deeply vested in surf rock principles it's difficult to figure out who'd get anything out of it who wouldn't swear by the genre day and night. "Det Kolde Hawaii" is a collaboration between Telestjernen and Manden De Kaldte Lefty, two unknown Danish artists within the genre, who basically go full retard on experimental surf rock leaving onlookers completely ashore as they disappear into the horizon at the Danish west coast. Never go full retard, as the Tropic Thunder quote so well suggests, is as valid as ever on "Det Kolde Hawaii".

After a strange intro "Grønt Flag", we get an even stranger mixture of surf rock nuances and Kim Larsen style 'familien Danmark' pop on the title track. If at this stage you're ready to facepalm I won't blame you, but at least the next few tracks drop that vibe altogether and instead focus on Danish-sung (for the most part) surf rock that should also bring to mind equally atrocious outfits The Tremolo Beer Gut, A Hound Ensemble, and to an extent, The Surfing Henchmen at least in terms of mood and atmosphere. It's extremely weird throughout, often borderline overload on hipster attitude, elsewhere just plain fucked up. And not in a good way. "Yeah-Yeah!" is quintessential to any description of the album with its lyrics that freely vary between Danish and English, resulting in an odd chorus where they sing (in an irritating tone of voice) "MTV makes me wanna smoke crack".

The second half of the album is dedicated to Manden De Kaldte Lefty and his twangy guitar, but things don't get any less weird sound wise. If anything, they get even more experimental, and at this stage we've reached a point where the music is essentially written for the guys themselves and nobody else. I for one can't think figure out for the life of me who would actually be listening to this on their free time, voluntarily. At 16 tracks and almost an hour's worth of music, "Det Kolde Hawaii" is an excruciatingly long and painful listen because the album goes nowhere. It experiments with surf rock, sure, but the result is horrible. Avoid.

Download: Yeah-Yeah!, De Hvide Vans
For the fans of: The Tremolo Beer Gut, The Surfing Henchmen, A Hound Ensemble
Listen: Facebook

Release date 15.09.2014
Eagel Vision Records