KLOSSA KNAPITATET

Having already hit the ground running with its own bizarre sui generis quirkiness on its self-titled debut, SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA really came of age with its second coming "Måltid" which found the juvenile goofiness levels ramped up into virtuosic splendor. Reminiscent of Frank Zappa's wackiest moments or even the whimsy run amok of England's Canterbury Scene, the band entered a new level of proficiency with the addition of jazz fusionist guitarist Costa Apetrea who steered the band into a bolder display of technical exploration which found the band quickly becaming regarded as one of Sweden's most capricious bands that made you laugh while totally blowing you away with a virtuosic proficiency virtually unknown in the Swedish prog scene.

The band followed its lauded "Måltid" with the equally frenetically infused KLOSSA KNAPITATET which basically means "Crush Capitalism" which was basically intended as a poke at the seriousness of the Swedish Polit-Rock scene and the inability of many of the more many avant-garde prog acts that took things too seriously. Following the basic gist of the previous album, KLOSSA KNAPITATET took things to the next level and while the vocal contributions and moments of accessibility may have found a lesser role on the band's third album, the excursions into wild adventurous improvisational prog workouts was put on steroids. The result was one of the most diverse and complex albums of the 70s RIO movement that seamlessly fused the nonchalant goofiness of Frank Zappa with the heady hairpin turns and compositional complexity of Henry Cow.

While the theme of the album was a joke to state that SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA had no interest in getting political and that everything in the world is a source of comedic relief, the band delivered the goods when it came to its instrumental prowess set on full power on this crazy album that mixed the worlds of rock, jazz, classical, circus music and European folk musical styles with the silly vocal styles still finding their way into the mix but finding a lesser role. Basically what the SAMLAS delivered on KLOSSA is an ever-changing variation of overall themes with festive beer hall music reminiscent of Germany's Oktoberfest suddenly morphing into nerdy jazz-fusion workouts and then drifting off into circus music and moments of progressive rock splendor. Beginning with the same stride piano rolls with "Ingenting" already familiar from "Måltid," the track begins with a rather celebratory vibe that features a series of slick keyboard moves before becoming a dance hall sort of jubilee that then suddenly bursts into the wild unhinged proggy jazz-fusion antics of "Liten Dialektik."

While it's almost impossible to distinguish one track from another due to the incessant unpredictability and aimless wandering about, the tracks somehow reprise melodic touches and balance the utterly silly with the face-slapping technical wizardry which finds the band one minute in a yodeling session at a drunken public gathering and the next in a breakneck speed frenzy of time signature laced fusion and avant-prog angularity. All the musicians deliver some of the most sophisticated outbursts of one of the most varied albums of the entire prog 70s yet somehow the album once completed feels unified by some sort of underlying thematic approach that remains elusive yet somehow tangible. The addition of the accordion and the greater role of guitars clearly enriched the band's overall sound which allowed a greater expansiveness however at its core the band continued a rather wild contrast between the utter ludicrous and the jaw-dropping seriousness of well seasoned virtuosos.

In many ways this is my favorite SAMLA MANNAS MAMA album as it delivers greater doses of proggy excursions into wild and turbulent outbursts that "Måltid" only hinted at. It's simply amazing how this band could morph seamlessly from a polka band to jazz-fusion and avant-prog and then off to a night at the circus or beer hall! By far one of Sweden's most irreverent offerings to the world of prog that took the approach of Mr Bungle long before Mike Patton and Trey Spruance had unleashed their own 90s freakazoid musical menagerie. Kings of the smorgasbord prog effect SAMLA MANNAS MANNA was like no other and on KLOSSA KNAPITATET reached the height of their proficiency where the adolescent immaturity clashed mightily with the savant-like dexterity of their performances. Another masterpiece from these Swedish legends.