GLÄNS ÖVER SJÖ OCH STRAND – Är du lönsam lille vän? (MNW, 1970) / Här schaktas utan pardon (MNW, 1971)

Centered around author, journalist and songwriter Peter Mosskin, Gläns Över Sjö Och Strand (hereafter refered to as GÖSS) was one of the first generation progg bands, founded in 1970 and present at both of the legendary Gärdet music festivals in 1970. Tord Bengtsson was also in the band before joining Arbete & Fritid, as well as Hans Wiktorsson who appeared on numerous progg albums over the years but is best known for being in Nationalteatern.

Mosskin's Bob Dylan admiration shines through hard on the two GÖSS albums, with lyrics dense with words and often dealing with social issues, the depopulation of certain regions of Sweden, anti the Vietnam war. Mosskin sometimes seems to reject the natural orientation points of the barlines when singing, making the lyrics sound as if they 'float on top' of the accompaniment. It took me a while to get used to this peculiar verbose vocal style and also the songs' initial sense of sameyness, but perseverance does it. The albums don't give away their nuances all at once but reward those who won't give up too early, especially the first one.

Är du lönsam lille vän? (MNW, 1970)
Swedish vocals 

International relevance: **

 

The fervent ”Det måste kännas taskigt att se mig gå” sounds like a one (or two) man version of Hawkwind (or is it rather Sam Gopal?) with that wild electric guitar drone continuosly firing up Mosskin's accusatory harangues. Psychedelic? If you will, and if you do, the same could be said of the classic ”Långhåriga saker”. But most often, the songs aren't that musically confrontative, instead making their way ahead with a bouncy irrestistable groove rather unusual to progg, especially the mainly acoustic progg. 

Här schaktas utan pardon (MNW, 1971)
Swedish vocals 

International relevance: **

 

Second GÖSS album is in a similar style to their first, but less energetic. The heaviest – and best – track is ”Olja”, while ”Tango med besked” sounds a bit like Gunder Hägg at the time of ”Glassfabriken”. The problem is that Mosskin doesn't sound quite as interested in his songs here, and the album lacks a fair bit of the freshness characterizing ”Är du lönsam lille vän?”. ”Här schaktas utan pardon” is still OK, but their debut remains my first hand GÖSS choice.

”Är du lönsam lille vän & andra sånger” is a 'best of' styled GÖSS CD compilation, and does the job just fine. It also includes a couple of Peter Mosskin solo songs.

from Är du lönsam lille vän?

Morfar, varför är det bara du som är kvar? 

Är du lönsam lille vän? (Och för vem?) 

Det måste kännas taskigt att se mig gå 

Ohio 4 maj 1970 

Lingonrevolutionen

Mellan vatten och land 

Långhåriga saker

Här schaktas utan pardon full album playlist