A Kiss Before You Go [CD]

I bought this album on the basis of hearing Rock-Paper-Scissors on the radio, and in truth, that is probably the most conventionally accessible track on the CD with a real folky vibe, and great vocals - you know where it's going and it doesn't disappoint. Much of the rest of the album is quite a trip - defying easy description...

So here goes...

The vocals are stunning - really tight, crisp harmonies and clear diction. Katzenjammer are Norwegian, but most of the time you wouldn't know it from their singing of the English lyrics. Some of the vocals are almost 1920s-1930s Charleston-style (as in the track Cherry Pie), on other tracks more kind of 1930s Berlin cabaret/burlesque - and sometimes there's a kind of Country thing going on too (Rock-Paper-Scissors). The cover version of Genesis's Land of Confusion is great - and surprising - it starts off with oompah-oompah sousaphone riffs and ends up with rocking out guitars. There's something of the Victorian-sounding player piano and lush, swelling harmonies and vocals on the track Lady Marlene.

Sometimes it makes me think of the kind of album that at bunch of multi-instrumental Kate Bushes might have produced (though the vocals have a wider range of textures) - there is that kind of diversity and inventiveness about it... though no songs about washing machines, thank goodness. The members of Katzenjammer between them play a huge range of instruments - piano, tuba, mandolin, mellotron, harp, celeste, banjo, zither, carillon, accordion, drums, marxophone, guitar, dobro, trumpet, marimba.....

If you want an easy listen, or happy background music, look elsewhere - some the tracks have a dark, almost sinister feel (God's Great Dust Storm is a case in point). However, if you want to listen to something which'll give your ears and your mind a bit of a workout, then this could be for you.

The recording quality is really good - you can hear all that's going on - someone has really taken care over it, and it shows.

I've a feeling that this is an album I'll keep on coming back to, and each time, I'll never be quite sure what I think of it.

Where the hell do you start with this album?? I don't profess to being a music critic but this album is truly stunning. I started listening to it and could hear Amy MacDonald, Bjork, and possibly a thousand other influences but an equally big original sound. If you can imagine Joel Grey or Liza Minnelli camping it up in Cabaret to some of the tracks, or squads of Vikings marching in Up Helly-Aa to others then you are in the right place.

I Will Dance (When I Walk Away) is one of those tunes that has you dancing like nobody is looking, and certainly gets you half the bus when you start doing just that on a number 8 back to London Liverpool Street.

Enjoy, because if you don't then you don't have a soul.

Saw Katzenjammer at Cambridge Folk Festival this year. They were totally entertaining and excellent musicians. Totally recommend this album and their previous one. You cannot fail to sing along!