#kasvotvaxt

Their band name is Wallob. Clueless Wallob. Clueless Wallob. Taken from the lyrics of an obscure 80s Swedish pop-rock song by a little known Stockholm unit called “Kasvot Vaxt.”

No one in Clueless Wallob is of Swedish descent, but several of the members were taken with the music of Kasvot from early on. “I remember someone in high school art class gave me a cassette of I-Rokk and I was blown away. I had never heard anything like it,” says guitarist Jed Luckless. “The guy had tacked on a couple Lynyrd Skynrd tunes at the end to fill up the tape. For a long time I thought “Freebird” was a Vaxt tune and I was amazed that they could replicate an American southern accent so well.”

Others in the band had never heard of Kasvot Vaxt prior to joining Clueless. “When Jed approached me, I had no idea what he was talking about,” recalls bassist Kenny Kaufman. “I knew he spoke a little French, but didn’t know about the Swedish. I had just quit another act and was down to only 11 bands, so he was in luck.”

Musically speaking, some people do actually call them clueless. While the core Kasvot material the band plays is fairly straightforward, they have a lot of fun with (including their attempts to replicate the Turtle dance) and they do branch out into covering acts like Phish. But it is never anything complex or orchestrated. Instead, listeners are treated to classics like “Chalkdust Torture,” “Back On The Train,” and “Gumbo.”  Keyboard player Mark Mattson describes it as “kind of fun, but not that challenging.”

What Clueless Wallob does bring to the table is a unique sound and that rare ability to channel musical energy into compelling improvisational jams. Drummer Pete Martine is the backbone of the unit and holds down the extended segues without fail while the combination of Kaufman and Luckless always results in some magical moments.

The band is based in NY and they play around the area as well as webcasting shows online. It might be hard to find them, but if you ever have a chance to check out “Clueless Wallob” I recommend it. They always provide a phun evening celebrating some obscure music a small few of us love an awful lot!