Serena-Maneesh Issue #28

Serena-Maneesh (Playlouder)

By Chris Pacifico
Published: June 1st, 2006 | 10:12am

It may pack a punch when it comes to bringing on fuzzy and distorted guitars as any seminal shoegazer band has done, but on this much-anticipated debut release, Serena-Maneesh also bring us to a stratum of a cold arctic gust from the band’s native Norway. With angelic harmonies that swirl, lilt, and are ever-so elastic, Serena-Maneesh lays down a thick kaleidoscopic primer with plenty of breezy treble.

“Selina’s Melodie Fountain” is a cyclonic punk gusto, but on numbers like “Candlelighted,” Serena-Maneesh manages to merge together the sonic components of Eastern vibes and ocean-floor droning. The reverb on “Beehiver II” strikes deep down to the marrow of your bones and is probably the only tune that would be appropriate for the scene in a 2001: A Space Odyssey remake when astronaut Dave travels through the stargate. Lina Holstrom’s honey-coated vocals are superb and wisp around like the absinthe fairy on the monograph ambience of “Her Name is Suicide” or tracks like “Sapphire Eyes,” a sonic supernova with gentle twee-pop harmonies.

It’s nice to see lava-lamp listening given the Nordic jet stream it’s needed for quite some time now.