((Serena Maneesh)) Band Profile and Upcoming SXSW Concerts - Oh My Rockness
Serena Maneesh
Norway's Serena Maneesh can, at times, be musically manic-depressive. Sometimes they rock high and sometimes they rock low. Most of the time, they are a purely guttural band out to slay you with their spiky guitars, dangerous rhythms, and distorted samples. But the band does have their lonely moments of reflection, incorporating sparse piano hymns and hushed, dark atmospherics, between instrumental explosions.
Main man Emil Nikolaisen sings sparingly, and often turns over vocal duties to his sister, Elvira, when the songs need the serene, dreamy quality her fragile voice conveys. Serena Maneesh has been compared to wall-of-noise bands like Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain, mixed with the grand orchestration of Sigur Ros and M83. They even had their friend Sufjan Stevens play the flute and marimba on their latest self-titled album. Not too many bands can kill you with feedback AND flutes. If that's not musically manic-depressive, I don't know what is.
Main man Emil Nikolaisen sings sparingly, and often turns over vocal duties to his sister, Elvira, when the songs need the serene, dreamy quality her fragile voice conveys. Serena Maneesh has been compared to wall-of-noise bands like Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain, mixed with the grand orchestration of Sigur Ros and M83. They even had their friend Sufjan Stevens play the flute and marimba on their latest self-titled album. Not too many bands can kill you with feedback AND flutes. If that's not musically manic-depressive, I don't know what is.
Published April 23, 2009
