STADSVANDRINGAR [AKA: DUNGEN 2]

My relation to Dungen is not a very strong one. I first found out about them in High School when they performed their song "Panda" on Late Night With Conan O' Brien, and thought that it had a nice Hendrix/Zeppelin feel and also that it was very interesting that a Swedish band would be so bold as to try and make a career overseas, while singing in their own mother tounge. Later on, while carousing the record store, i found this CD and decided to pick it up although i had never heard it before. I was thinking that if "Panda" was a good example of their sound then it cant be bad, right?

Well, yes and no. According to the band, the reason why they decided to focus on a foreign market was because back in Sweden, they were constantly branded as a "Progg" band. Thats right, "Progg" not "Prog". If you have talked with any Swedish Progheads on this site, then you probably know what that means, but if you dont then here is a short description: "Progg" wich is short for "Proggressiva Musikrörelsen" ("The Progressive Musicmovement") was a musical phenomen in the late 60's and early to mid 70's in Sweden, wich can best be described as a sort of delayed Hippie movement. The original idea was to hold festivals and in other ways promote alternative and uncommercial music, but in the bigger picture it tied in with the general left wing social struggles of that time. The music that the "Progg" bands played was diverse, ranging from Reagge to Pop and yes, even real Progressive Rock! (Samla Mammas Manna was considered to be a part of the "Progg" movement, for example.) However, standard Rock was the most common. If we can return to Dungen for awhile then i must say that i am not surprised that they got that brand from the media atleast at this stage in their career, because this is real "Hippie music"! There aint necessarily anything wrong with that, but this album feels toothless. Reine Fiskes amazing guitar talents are seriously underused, except in the track "Vem Vaktar Lejonen?" ("Who Guards The Lions?") wich has a riff that reminds of the one in the Lenny White song "The Great Pyramid". Awesome, in other words. Unfortunately the 9 tracks before it except for "Fest" ("Party") and "Över Stock Och Sten" ("Over Log and Rock") just dont do it for me. There is way to much Organ, Flute and Violin and too little Guitar for my taste. Gustaf Estjes is a fantastically talented multi-instrumentalist and at the best times the music reminds me of Phish crossed with Jethro Tull, but in the very worst times it reminds me of two bit Indie Rock, wich is a shame when i know that these guys can do better.

The lyrics are also incredibly cheesy with nearly all of them dealing with Summer, Birds, Flowers, Being at one with nature etc, etc. This is something that was fixed on the following album aswell.

This is quite a pleasant little trip, but for the real Psychedelic ROCK album, i recommend the one after this.