- Critic score
- Publication
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It should not take the seasoned listener too long to grasp that Serena Maneesh transcend the narrow boundaries of shoegaze.
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These aren't 11 songs so much as 12 blood-riling arguments.
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What truly makes this album stand out is the group’s sense of control.
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UncutOne of the most intriguing walls of sound since My Bloody Valentine circa Isn't Anything. [Jul 2006, p.97]
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New Musical Express (NME)Shoegazing in origin, barn-storming in conclusion. [24 Jun 2006, p.43]
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Under The RadarIt's remarkable that it should all feel so cohesive, given the album's roller-coaster tendencies and overall messiness, but Serena Maneesh manage to put considerable craft behind their mess. [#12, p.93]
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Just don't dip into the album fleetingly - it's music that's hard to appreciate in snippets, but more than satisfactory when devoured as a whole.
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By marrying the subtle ethereality of bands like MBV with the swashbuckling pomp of a modern-day Iggy, they are a band at once single-minded and confused.
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SpinThere are interesting moments... but too often they're smothered in a formless buzz of guitar, samples, voilin, harmonica--you name it. [Jul 2006, p.87]
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Entertainment WeeklySure, this speaker-frying style has been done before, but rarely with such confidence. [12 May 2006, p.83]
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Alternative PressOne of the few albums that deserves its Pitchfork-generated hype. [Jul 2006, p.204]
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At the end, S-M is still a silly tribute band, years away from hoeing a unique row. But when musicians crank out such a joyously chaotic mess of someone else’s forced nostalgia, it’s hard to be mad at them.
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The Oslo five-piece flirt with overindulging their feedback fetish... but avoid wankery by reining in the songs just before boredom sets in.
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Serena-Maneesh sounds like the kind of record many bands spend their entire careers trying to create.
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Serena Maneesh injects the Warhols' toothy, cocksure swagger [into] the lush, narcotic insularity of My Bloody Valentine and Ride.
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Sure, there's a formula at work here, but it doesn't feel forced.
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UrbThe group maintains its own modern, unique sound while capturing and reimagining the familiar. [May 2006, p.95]
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Unfortunately, the opener is really the musical peak of this self-titled disc and as the album slowly slumps toward its egotistically long final track, listeners will probably have already tuned-out.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 31 out of 40
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Mixed: 2 out of 40
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Negative: 7 out of 40
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RGApr 5, 2007
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GarrettSep 8, 2006Sounds like more upbeat, energetic MBV. I like this album a lot, it's not amazing but it's definitely good :D
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MihaiVAug 17, 2006Excellent. Very close to a masterpiece. It's true that classifying it as shoegaze is debateable. It's so much more.