Cosmic Harmony
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- Joined
- Dec 8, 2009
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Marianne Sveen, Solveig Heilo, Anne Marit Bergheim, and Turid Jørgensen
Katzenjammer - Official Website
Katzenjammer - Wikipedia Page
Discography
* Le Pop (2008)
* A Kiss Before You Go (2011)
These four beautiful and colorful ladies are Katzenjammer. Based out of Oslo, Norway they prove that not only terrifying metal bands can come from Norway.
Katzenjammer was formed in 2005 with a boat load of instruments found in the attic of their college, which the band members alternate between during live shows. Some of the instruments they use are trumpet, acoustic guitar, accordion, piano, kazoo, melodica, ukulele, mandolin, banjo, glockenspiel, drums, and their instantly recognizable cat faced balalaika, which they originally got in the back of a very dirty pub they used to play at.
Overall the band makes use of nearly 30 different instruments and are always looking to incorporate new instruments into their music. Each member is also an accomplished singer though lead vocals are usually from Sol (the most traditionally pretty sounding singer in the group), Turid (who has a bit more of a raspy tone), and Marianne (who is by far the wackiest and most versitile singer in the group) while Anne Marit usually sticks just to backing vocals (though there are of course exceptions to that).
Since the release of their debut album "Le Pop" in late 2008 (which I have fallen in love with over the last couple months) the band has been building a very strong following all over the world and have developed an increasingly good reputation for their live shows. They even earned nominations for "Best Debut Album" and "Best New Artist" at the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammys, mainly from the buzz around their breakthrough single "A Bar In Amsterdam".
Musically Katzenjammer is a difficult to define since they mix so many genres and influences together but I think the best way to describe their sound would be traditional European folk music channeled through a pop filter with elements of rock, country, and carnival music that is being played by Norwegian cartoon characters who sing in English.
First a couple accessible things:
Silly and fun
(This was the band's second single and it has a GREAT music video)
Norwegian country flare
(This was the band's debut single)
And a couple faves of mine in their great live formats: