Serena-Maneesh

Rejoice people who don’t want to plonk down major cash for imports, this debut from these psychedelic Norwegians is now getting a domestic release. Making their mark in a way that is becoming almost conventional for indie bands — a high-ranking score on Pitchfork — Serena-Maneesh now face an uphill battle over hype and resentment. Although there is much to celebrate with this absurdly confident effort, there is also enough to make it slightly less than the revelatory effort brought forth by other sources of media. To make it easy, if you love My Bloody Valentine, there will be much to love here. "Un-Deux” emulates their poppy side better than most, while "Don’t Come Down Here” is from the classic shoegazer-era. Indeed, when Serena-Maneesh get all noisy and loud, as on "Chorale Luck,” there is an obvious nod to Kevin Shields’ skewed take on the wall of sound. The reason why this should not be derided, as emulation usually is, is due to the sincerity that comes through. These Norwegians seem to truly love every tortured note of their mash letter to those old noiseniks. Ambition and confidence are the name of the game here, and Serena-Maneesh triumph not because of the original quality of music, but because they know they do it better than you ever will.