MOLLRÖR – Med muskelmun och mannarap (Brute Force, 1982)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: *

 

I was actually completely unaware of this album until it recently began to make the Internet rounds. Mollrör grew out of Umeå band Peppe & The Popping Peanuts, formed in around 1973. While they never released a record, they did manage to get on Swedish TV with their song ”Killa mig på Kilimanjaro”, with the lyrics being a poem by Sixten Landby, a Umeå heavy weight lifter and strongman turned poet. Peppe & The Popping Peanuts were shunned by the progg movement (something they apparently weren't that unhappy with) but known locally for their semi-surrealist live shows, thus drawing comparisons to Danish rock theatre group Røde Mor.

I'm not sure exactly when Peppe & The Popping Peanuts developed into the curiously named Mollrör (roughly meaning 'minor tube', with 'minor' as in minor scales or chords). Their sole album, the equally curiously entitled ”Med muskelmun och mannarap” ('with muscle mouth and manna belch'), was released on local label Brute Force in 1982 in an edition of 337 copies and including a booklet. During the label's short existence – apparently founded in 1981 and closed down in 1983 – Brute Force Records mainly released punk related singles, most of them featuring label head and Mollrör drummer Lars Gillén.

”Med muskelmun och mannarap” is a rather strange album waving its fists in all quirky directions. Unfortunately, most songs fall in the pastiche category with a humorous flair (probably inherited from Peppe & The Popping Peanuts) which is more annoying than funny. Only a couple of songs is kept safe from the dated attempts at satire and parody. ”Rönnskärsverken” is a slow, angst-ridden track with a strong environmental pathos – decidedly the most successful track in this collection. ”Must och märg” is in a somewhat similar vein and the album's second best track. Of the pastiches, ”Desperate Prairie” is the most successful, an instrumental cowboy/surf track with garage psych touches provided by Roger Broman's swirling organ. Speaking of garage rock, ”Leker med eld” is a Swedish translation of The Seeds' classic ”Pushing Too Hard” but let's just say you hardly need to substitute your ”Nuggets” for ”Med muskelmun and mannarap”...

People specifically interested in the rock history of Northern Sweden, or any rare album regardless of what it sounds like might find this interesting. On strictly musical terms, it's nowhere near satisfying and is best avoided.

Lars Gillén passed away in March 2020 at the age of 66 after several years of fighting cancer. After Brute Force Records, Gillén founded the Garageland label who rose to some notoriety as a reissue label as well as the home of his neo-psych/space rock band Jukon Speakers.

Full album