FAMILJESPRICKOR

I wasn't keen on earlier Zamla releases, and as far as Samla went I always preferred their Canterbury-influenced material to their more avant-garde stuff. But Family Cracks really is an excellent little album; it's essentially Zamla presenting their own take on the RIOish chamber rock concept as espoused by Art Zoyd, Univers Zero, and (to a lesser extent) on the last Henry Cow album (Western Culture). Zamla play a more light-hearted variant of this style, less horror- based than Art Zoyd, Univers Zero and Present and less hostile than Henry Cow. With snatches of polka infiltrating proceedings, the overall effect is genuinely original and possibly the group's greatest artistic accomplishment.