VIDEO
Ida Maria
“Oh My God”
Fortress Round My Heart
2009
iTunes
Norway–born Ida Maria Sivertsen is a buzzed about 24–year–old who is fond of booze, the Pretenders, and telling you exactly what she’s thinking at any given moment. On her debut, she dishes spunky singalong choruses as her band kicks out caffeinated garage–style rock on songs like the terrific single “Oh My God.“ That song finds Sivertsen describing an existential crisis while delivering a fist–pumpable chorus, while the catchy “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” makes social anxiety seem like bloody good fun. The foursome sound like they’re making it up as they go along on much of Fortress, and Sivertsen could go easier on the drunken confessionals. But you can only argue so much with an album this warm and tuneful.