Kevin Bronson on January 14th, 2009

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I’m pretty sure that if Ida Maria were plying her trade around Los Angeles, industry wonks would be whispering about how she ought to get vocal lessons and drop 30 pounds. Thankfully, the 24-year-old rocker is from the small town of Nensa, in Norway, and is now based in Sweden, where, ostensibly, a healthy dose of bravado and some killer choruses can set you apart.

True, her voice is about as supple as a bent bicycle sprocket and onstage she’s something of a bull in the china shop, having been known to injure herself on various pieces of equipment. She didn’t draw blood Tuesday night at the Viper Room, but the woman born Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen drew wild cheers, her soul-baring pop volleys finding a home in the chests of those in the packed house.

As Scandinavians go, she is five Hives wrapped up in one stout Norwegian lass — one who makes it easy to rock your way through any neurosis. “Oh my God, you think I’m in control?” she wails, all Joplinesque, in her European hit single, and you’re right there on the brink with her. She plays the naughty bits to a hilt, too; “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” avoids being cloying thanks to a nifty twist when the chorus is repeated. Her new backing band (they’d only played together a week?) held up their end of the deal, too.

Wouldn’t be surprised a bit to see Ida Maria playing Coachella in April — her album “Fortress Round My Heart” is due for U.S. release that month.