Lambchop
Nixon (Merge)
A month of listening and I still don't know what to make of the new release from this improbable
thirteen-piece collective, Lambchop. I'm told Wilco, an acquired taste that I haven't learned to
digest, is a genre of one. I have little difficulty describing Lambchop in similar fashion. It
does start with lead singer and creative force Kurt Wagner, who has crafted some complex song
structures for his down-home orchestra. Yet his whiskey-and-cigarettes voice, the polar opposite
of Jeff Tweedy's pitched yelp, is a difficult barrier for me to cross. And why does he try to
sing falsetto?
"Lush" is probably an overused descriptive, but the jazz-inflected guitar, horn section
and occasional string augmentation help Lambchop's sound go down as smooth as the Jack Daniels
from their home state of Tennessee. Perhaps they could be cousins of Grant Lee Buffalo and when
this baker's dozen gets rolling, they do bring a wall of sound of a sort.
All of which leaves the album, cryptic and honest lyrics and song titles. The liner notes
offer a suggested reading list about our 37th president and the opening cut is "Grumpus,"
though not much else hints at a concept album. Unless you also consider my favorite track,
"Up with People," with its hand-claps and faux-gospel choir, as a paean to the squeaky
clean 70s entertainment troupe. (I'm not sure it is.) And I'm further left off-balance by
"Nashville Parent," whose sounds could feel at home in a swanky elevator over which
Wagner sings of domestic violence at the neighbors' place. Overall, I enjoy the non-traditional
line-up and appreciate the risk taking, though not all hits the mark.
Rating: 6
-- Tim Frommer
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