Of all the great broken-up bands to ever exist, were I given the power to resurrect one and one only, it would almost certainly be Katzenjammer (my second favorite Norwegian band). Their split was way premature, and did not need to happen. They could have gone off and made solo albums while still keeping the band on track. They really were on the way to becoming a pretty big deal. Fortunately they left three phenomenal albums behind.
This is their third and it finds them moving away from what my sister refers to as “psycho circus music” and exploring Appalachian vibes, among others (folk, pop, indie, etc). Similar to bands like Sloan, all four members wrote and sang their own songs, and performed them on a wide variety of instruments (watching them shift between songs was one of the best parts of their live shows….virtuosos on everything, they).
Every song on this album is great but (as was often the case) the most compelling material came from Sol Heilo. “Oh My God” and “Bad Girl” are super cool but it’s “Shine Like Neon Rays”, with its toy piano riff, that stands at the top, possibly the best song this band ever played.
Hopefully one day this band will get its shit together and reform. Until then, at least we have the records.
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