Dice, "Alea Iacta Est"

I will admit that there's no way for me to both share this and not look foolish, so I won't even attempt to justify the plug and will instead marinate in the awkwardness I just created for myself.

This band, Dice, is lost to time for good reason. Goopy, sloshy, gratuitous prog that is really a challenge to listen to, not because it's overindulgent (that I can wholeheartedly embrace), but because it's just so impossibly indecisive and scatterbrained. Some of their tracks have glimmers of hope, but these moments are fleeting and clunkily wedged in. If you want the sound of five capable Swedish studio wizzes going at it in a fight for the last word, look no further.

The above said, I can't help but feel a certain thrill listening to this LP today. It's so unabashedly ridiculous and doughy, and that attitude... well, it ain't a bad attitude to have.

A few years after this came out, the drummer, Örjan Strandberg, found himself in a band called Kramp that appears to have released only one 7-inch. It is a stupid, stupid record, and yet it is fun in the way a well-executed novelty record is fun. Packaging is on point, too. Look at those labels!