FAT DOGS & DANISHMEN

Continuing what they started on their debut album 'Entree,' the Danish musical whack job DR DOPO JAM released their second album FAT DOGS AND DANISHMEN in 1974 with founder, leader, main composer, singer and instrumentalist Kristian Pommer cranking out a whopping double album of crazy Zappa inspired material that took as many creative liberties as was humanly possible through the course of eleven bizarre tracks that dared to stuff in as many genres as possible without losing a beat.

Despite being Danish, DR DOPO JAM found a home on the German Zebra label which found prominent label mates like A.R. & Machines, Kin Ping Meh, Epitaph and Ougenweide. Even within this eclectic crowd Pommer's idiosyncratic band stood out like a sore thumb looking more towards the US music scene for inspiration rather than their neighbors to the south with a huge collective of musicians dishing out the ultimate display of humorous pastiches in a labyrinthine journey through a ridiculous amount of musical styles.

Once again, the Mothers of Invention provided the necessary ingredients for DR DOPO JAM to riff off of and do so quite well on their sophomore release. 'Entree' was primarily composed of one massively long track that sprawled on for 25 minutes with a few more tracks tacked onto the end but FAT DOGS AND DANISHMEN differs in that all the tracks are significantly shorter with only two extending past the eight minute mark and adopting the same mini-suite formula but even within the shorter tracks, genre skipping is quite the norm.

Anyone craving wildly new versions of Frank Zappa's early years will find lots to love here, especially in the period between 'Hot Rats' and 'Waka/Jawaka' with ample doses of utter ridiculousness and character changes that utilize the same wacky humor and spastic progressive instrumental outbursts. In addition to the album length being expanded, so too is the musical cast with 21 musicians and vocalists taking turns like a collective on different tracks.

When i say that FAT DOGS AND DANISHMEN likes to genre skip i really mean that these guys throw in everything including the kitchen sink. In just the first track 'Cowboy-Song' alone there is brass rock, Zappa-esque jazz-fusion, straight forward rock, spaghetti western, surf rock, progressive rock moments and soul funk all wrapped around an instantly addictive vocal melody. And then it delivers a nice rockin' guitar solo. The lyrics are hilarious and the band reminds me a bit of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in that department as well as Zappa.

The album just continues to bedazzle with nosedives into a mind-boggling diverse eclectic palette of moods and styles whether it be lounge jazz, Canterbury Scene prog, Paganini inspired violin antics with classical piano, gypsy folk, tango, classical, 60s pop vocal (as in Tom Jones), Santana-esque Latin jazz soul, mambo, big band, game show music and bossa nova just to name a few. Careful scrutiny will reveal even subtler intricacies. Less vibraphones this time around and more clavinet, piano, organ and heavy percussion.

Overall FATS DPGS AND DANISHMEN tends to be a split between progressive instrumental jams and silly shorter tracks that place more emphasis on the wacky humor. In many ways, it seems that DR DOPO JAM prognosticated the 80s era of Zappa with silly melodic tracks eschewing lengthy prog workouts in favor of a pure comedic delivery. However when the proggy parts let loose as on the title track, things get really proggy and heavy on the 'Hot Rats' fusion at its best however despite the obvious influences, DR DOPO JAM creates a unique tapestry that sounds like Zappa in a parallel universe.

FAT DOGS AND DANISHMEN lets loose way beyond the craziness dished out on 'Entree' a hundredfold. While on the debut, there was a lot more emphasis on the big brass bravado of the jazz-fusion, however on this one is more like a sampler pack of whatever whim and whimsey presented themselves at the moment, however this music never jettisons the melodic groove that ties it all together. DR DOPO JAM was literally the Mr Bungle of the early 70s and is an acquired taste to say the least, but personally i love this kind of musical freedom especially when done so well. This band was a true joy to discover despite not being perfectly executed.