Send "Serena Maneesh " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Back in 2006, I was ecstatic about the self-titled debut album from Norway’s Serena-Maneesh. Even though I did think the record tapered off somewhat after the astounding first four tracks into an indistinguishable din, I put the song “Selina’s Melodie Fountain” on a number of mix CDs for friends, and that song was in constant rotation in my CD player for a time as well. To me, that song made the album, and I would eagerly solicit feedback from my friends on my selection of choice. One of the more memorable comments I got back went something like, “You know, that song is alright, but if I wanted to listen to My Bloody Valentine, I’d listen to My Bloody Valentine.” Dejected as I was at that comment, my friend did have a point. Serena-Maneesh weren’t exactly reinventing the wheel. They were a clone-like shoegazer band that displayed their primary influence quite proudly, right down to the angelic female vocals. However, they did what they did really well, at least on “Selina’s Melodie Fountain”, which merged a killer guitar hook in its intro and verses that seemed to float by on vapour trails. Flash-forward four years and the long-overdue follow-up album called, rather clumsily, S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor is finally here. It’s titled like a sequel, and for those like my friend who wrote Serena-Maneesh off as a copycat band, they won’t find a lot here to change their impression. Abyss in B Minor is notable in that it took two years to record, and roughly two months to mix. With that kind of laborious production history, Serena-Maneesh seems to have not wanted listeners to forget about My Bloody Valentine. Recall that Loveless had a similarly lengthy (and troubled) recording process. Well, I hate to break it listeners, but Loveless this ain’t. The thing with My Bloody Valentine is that, despite all of the processing they put on their sound, and the nifty trick with the guitar tremolo bar employed by Kevin Shields, they had ethereal hooks and melodies pushed to the front and center. All of their adornments were exactly that, and they never got in the way of a good song....full text |
| Tinymixtapes |
| Five years after their self-titled debut, Serena-Maneesh finally return with a follow-up on the venerable 4AD. But five years is an admittedly long time to wait for new material, especially for an up-and-coming band. And even though last year saw the release of SM Backwards, a spotty odds-and-ends/remix comp, most of the source material was dated from even before their first full-length. Unfortunately, the benefit of time didn't encourage Serena-Maneesh to record a gargantuan Loveless-style follow-up to its Isn't Anything-aping first album. Instead, the brief S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor is a jumbled mess of various styles and poor production choices that threatens the reputation of what once appeared to be a formidable rock unit. From the outset, Serena-Maneesh sound confused on S-M 2. Album opener "Ayisha Abyss" sounds like a far-less effective rewrite of Primal Scream's excellent "Kill All Hippies." Its distorted bass line squirms and writhes for nearly eight minutes, with no more vocals than some faint moans panning back and forth in the stereo field. By the time the album's first pop song, "I Just Want To See Your Face," kicks things into a higher gear, it becomes clear that their very modus operandi has shifted: the cooing vocals have been brought up to an uncomfortably high level in the mix, while the wall of synth and effects pedals dwarf any discernible guitarwork. The production seems to suggest that Hilma Nikolaisen's vocals are of utmost importance here, but the group ends up sounding like The Raveonettes....full text |
| Thequietus |
| I first saw Serena-Maneesh when I somehow scored a VIP pass to the inaugural Great Escape Festival in Brighton in 2006. I'd never heard of them, but in a typically mismatched bill they were opening for that year's big noise, The Futureheads, and I thought I'd best get in early to be sure of catching the headliners. I was right, and while a queue of disgruntled paying punters snaked along the rainswept beach outside, Serena-Maneesh played the set of the weekend to a Zap Club packed with blaggers like me, ignorant industry insiders and a few bemused pop kids. Within minutes I was prostrating myself at the front of the stage, convinced I was witnessing the rebirth and salvation of visionary, hedonistic rock n' roll. Everyone else was fighting their way to the bar. So it goes. The Futureheads were shit, by the way....full text |
Serena Maneesh lyrics
|
| |||||||||||||
