Sometimes you settle into grooves with your media. Last May I spent about a month devouring giallo films, absorbing the genre and various auteurs (three cheers for Sergio Martino). In music it feels like the past year or so has been a spiraling descent (or ascent, if you prefer as I do) into progressive rock, something I always enjoyed but recently have grown to identify more deeply with. I recently caught a video review for Mind Out of Mind, the sophomore album from Minneapolis’s prog upstarts K’mono over on Sea of Tranquility, and on the strength of that I checked them out, picking up both that album and Return to the “E”, their debut. We’ll get to the new album next, but since I was scrolling through this site and fondly remembering when I was covering my collection in alphabetical order I figured I’d start here, right at the beginning with a fine debut that hints at the growth they’d achieve on their second release.

The trio, consisting of Jeffrey Carlson on vocals, guitars and organ/synths, Chad Fjerstad on bass, vocals and synths, and Timothy Java on drums fully embrace the major tenets of 70s progressive rock, recalling at times Genesis, Jethro Tull, Yes, and even King Crimson’s more melodic moments, but to my ears there’s also an infusion of modern prog sensibilities. Return to the “E” starts with the brief instrumental introduction of “Highlighter” providing a preview of how K’mono work sonically: great sounding drums locked in with a pulsing, groove-centric bass; keyboards and synths padding out the background while interweaving melodically with a warm guitar sound. It abruptly ends, shifting into the first full song, “All For the King”. The bass throbs, and there’s an ascending melodic line accompanying the verses, with the breaks really accentuating the power trio-ness of the band. In what seems like a recurring theme as I get older the first thing I notice are the drums, which are thick and weighty, like a good drum should be. The bass is very upfront which is nice, taking on a lead role against the ethereal vocal delivery. The track is deceptively sedate, only moving into more aggressive positions at ket moments throughout the song’s eight and a half minutes.

An almost Goblin-esque keyboard introduces “Which Warlock?” which segues from Goblin to Yes in its lines before getting to some grit as the song properly takes off. Vocally there’s a nice complementary effect with Fjerstad’s lower register voice on lead pairing nicely against Carlson’s higher range. Listening I can hear why this is (to date) the lone video the band have released – with its more rocking vibe and catchy chorus of “Which warlock is responsible for this?” having a suitably ear-worm cadence.

Side B of the cassette kicks off with “Feel You Pulsing” and its begins as a keys-heavy affair, the bass now sitting back and letting Java’s drums sit up front and kick out a solid, borderline motorik groove for Carlson’s breathy vocals, which I mistook for a female guest spot. I don’t see that anywhere, so let’s assume he’s doing that. I really like the way the song accelerates into an urgent cadence, breaking for more of those luscious keyboards, and I’m reminded again why the trio format is quite possibly my favorite band configuration.

That leaves the epically titled “The Judicious Shall Be Particoated & The Unpregnant O’er Wrought (Movements I​-​III)” to close Return to the “E” out, and at 13 minutes it’s the prog epic prog fans were probably waiting for. If you thought the title was epic (in length if not also in pretension, which I think is an intentional joke) then let me introduce you to the actual movement names. The first movement, lasting about three minutes is titled “Aghast, The Judicious Perpend Subscription Amidst a Trigon of Madness”…uh, okay. Luckily the music is fun and only slightly pompous, as the band incorporates some Hawkwindian space rock with tasteful guitar licks and an absolutely fat bass tone. Movement II, “An Epiphany Inherited ‘ere The Retirement of the Unpregnant” feels martial in its rhythm, and the vocals add to that feeling, acting more as proclamation than singing. Then Carlson comes in to provide a different viewpoint as things begin to get kind of psychedelic, letting the keyboards have all the glory before some saxophone (courtesy of Alexander Kish) comes in and introduces a bouncing, propulsive section accompanied by a lot of la-di-das and more playful sounds as we finally get to the secret of what the “E” stands for in the album’s title.

The final movement, “Let the Seraphs Particoat the Earth” ends the track in grand style, and I realize K’mono have taken their sound and moved it up into the 80s without me realizing it. A fun trick, and a fun album to boot.