2015 – Roller Records
By Phillip Smith; Feb 13, 2016
The Voodoo Sessions - Live at Down Under from Norwegians Berdon
Kirksaether & the Twang Bar Kings is a heady and psychedelic explosion
of high-energy, guitar-centric blues-rock.
The four tracks on this EP shell out nearly twenty minutes of musical genius. The music is indeed magnificent. This furious foursome is composed of three founding
members of CIA (guitarist/vocalist Berdon
Kirksaether, drummer Roy Hanssen,
and bassist Stein Tumert), along with
guitarist/vocalist Erik Gabrielsen.
“Mama Roll Over” is quick to sweep
me off my feet with Kirksaether’s greasy
blues riffs and powerful vocals. I love the cool unsettling beat Hanssen sets the mood with on “Some
Kind of Voodoo”. This ominous track conjures
up images of a midnight stroll through backwoods Louisiana swampland. The opening licks of “Mad House” are my cue to
crank the volume up a notch. The band
plays this Robin Trower cover wonderfully
and unbridled. Hanssen and Tumert keep “When the Moon is on the
Rise” on track with a cool bass and drum rhythm while Kirksaether breaks out the gonzo with calculated guitar licks. His voice,
laying somewhere in the zone between Bono
and Jim Morrison, sounds great on
this song.
After listening to this EP a
multitude of times, I am so ready to hear a full-length studio album. In the meantime, I still have these four
songs.
