Description

Katzenjammer are nothing if not distinctive. Formed at an Oslo music school in 2005, the four girls play a diverse blend of country, folk, blues, pop and rock. From Tennessees Bonnaroo to Australias Woodford Folk Festival, the quartet have enraptured tens-of-thousands with their genre-mixing, instrument-swapping and riotous shows.

Their 2008 debut, Le Pop, showed that they were as fun on record as live and 2011s A Kiss Before You Go was a symphonic journey through the emotions, full of vigour and vocal harmonies. Throughout this all they have done things their own way.

Rockland is undoubtedly their most refined and accomplished effort so far. We wanted to go back to the roots and be more stripped and not add all these symphonic things, says Anne Marit.
The moods ebb and flow throughout; from the bass-heavy and rapped Oh My God to more serene and melody-led tracks like My Own Tune and Lady Grey. Yet this is no bare-bones record. It is still unmistakably Katzenjammer; a more focused version of the adventure and unbounded excitement for which they are known.

Each member travelled across the world to write songs for Rockland, including separate visits to Nashville for Anne Marit and Marianne and to London for Solveig. A staggering total of 83 songs was the result, though this was reduced to the eleven which make up Rockland. With these they have managed to distil their essence at its purest.

I think its kind of even closer to what we want Katzenjammer to be because its directly from the source of the band, says Solveig

The versatile Norwegian quartet are moving from their wilder earlier work to a more commercial fusion of country and blues, but their new pop direction suits them The Guardian