Serena Maneesh – S​-​M Backwards (2008) – LITTLE LOST CLASSICS

If you, like me, were the type who lived listening to and downloading new albums in the 'golden age of blogs' (hahahaha), you certainly came across the eponymous debut album by Norwegian band Serena Maneesh released in 2005.

The noisy band led by Emil Nikolaisen – hitherto best known as the drummer of glammers Silver, but also responsible for the drumsticks in jesus metallers Extol (yes, that's serious) and the guitar in jangglers the Loch Ness Mouse – was born in the twilight of the years 90, played with a bunch of cool people (Dandy Warhols, for example) and recorded two albums, the one mentioned in the paragraph above and No. 2: Abyss in B minorem 2010.

But instead of one of these albums, today we put out a compilation of the group's first two EPs (Fixxations e Back), call S​-​M backwards and released on the market in 2008 under the Smalltown Supersound label. Why, you might wonder. And I respond.

Because these two records – and the alternative versions of her songs present in the collection – present Serena Maneesh at a rawer level and divided between her greatest influences, Velvet Underground (in the first half of the album) and My Bloody Valentine circa Loveless (on Monday). Later they would merge these references better, thicken their sound mix and reach me, but that's all for the next text about their debut; For now, let's stick with the Oslo sextet while they hadn't yet reached the blogosphere (laughs, lots of laughs).

Listen to the stalk!