Samla Mammas Manna's third LP is where things really start getting interesting. On
Klossa Knapitatet, the meatier tracks have more meat and the crazier ones are better controlled. The group has not lost the wacky experimental side that had become particularly obvious on
Maltid, it has simply harnessed it in a different, more efficient way. On the progressive rock level, "Liten Dialektik" ("Small Dialectics") and "Musmjölkningsmaskinen" ("The Mousemilkingmachine") are the two main opuses on the album. Both are strong, complex numbers, with the first one sharing similarities with
Supersister's longer pieces, while the second one comes closer to a Scandinavian take on
Zappa's fast-paced art-rock. Incidentally, that track segues into "Influenser" ("Influences"), which starts off like one of the
Mothers of Invention's conducted improvisations, then evolves into a darker jam. Classical music is also a source of inspiration (or derision): the opening track "Ingenting" ("Nothing") has a mock-opera feel, while "Lang Ner i Ett Kaninhal" ("Way Down a Rabbit Hole") starts in Baroque mode before taking an unexpected (but oh so
Samla-esque) turn into yodeling territory. That last track epitomizes
Lars Hollmer's subversive sense of fun. The diversity that could become annoying on
Maltid here provides the album's backbone.
Samla Mammas Manna are growing as musicians and composers, and growing more able to organize their various ideas and influences into a coherent group identity.
Klossa Knapitatet is thus an excellent place to take a first dip into the group's discography, as it is the first of several very good albums. [In January of 2008 the Japanese Arcangelo label reissued
Klossa Knapitatet, remastered and packaged in a mini-LP sleeve. This reissue was also included in Arcangelo's eight-disc Samla/Zamla Box, featuring all the albums (also remastered and with some bonus tracks, and packaged in mini-LP sleeves) released by
Samla Mammas Manna and Zamla Mammaz Manna between 1971 and 1980, along with the
Gregory Fitzpatrick album Bildcirkus.] ~ François Couture