(ArtsBeat / New York Times) Katzenjammer, the group from Oslo that David Byrne picked to open the afternoon he curated for Bonnaroo’s That Tent (there are also This and The Other), was a band of four smiling women, three with big flowers in their hair, one (they took turns) playing a bass balalaika.
They came on like a Norwegian version of the B-52’s, pounding a beat and chirping random phrases in unison, but that didn’t last. Soon they were bouncing to a polka (complete with trumpet), or singing in pure close harmony that suggested Scandinavian traditional music, or delivering a cherry-pie recipe over a ukulele-strumming tune suggesting 1920’s jazz (with close-harmony “diddley-diddley-diddleys), or going near-Goth with a raspy song about “walking in the big black woods,” or sharing an a cappella dirge (with a drumbeat) about a dust storm. Accordion, banjo and kazoo came and went; their finale was a bluegrassy bounce. There was no telling what they’d do next, except that it was sure to be deft and charming.
After Bonnaroo, they’re headed to New York, to play the Mercury Lounge on Tuesday.
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