Lambchop - 'Awcmon' / 'Noyoucmon' (City Slang)
4/5
By: Toby L
'It takes some time/But there you go...'
Sometimes, the simplicity in life rings most poignant, especially when expressed from the vocal-chords of the masters of introspection themselves, Lambchop; a band like The Tindersticks that nestle in the Nick Cave realms of the sombre - eerily beautiful, restlessly tuneful, and fronted by a voice (Kurt Wagner) where any and all sentiments are magnified to prestigious, new lofty heights of significance.
Wonderfully, with the latest from avant-garde pioneers the 'Chop, we get two doses of immaculately suave, intelligent and marvelling insights: yes, two full-length records released on the same day. Guns 'N' Roses must be positively incensed.
And let's establish one thing right away - there is nothing to fault in Lambchop. Album # 1 ('Awcmon') is an Americana-doused cacophony of classy pianos, scintillating, sophisticated guitar-lines, croaky vox and timelessly constructed arrangements. Music as befitted to a smoky lounge-bar as it is in the 'hip' circles that listen to such flourishes of sound prior to an indulgent snooze on a sleek, leather armchair. Album # 2 ('Noyoucmon') is even better, and the one rockfeedback shall choose to fawn over.
... After all, have you heard 'Under A Dream Of A Lie'? No? You f**king should. It blends the calculated instrumentation of Burt Bacharach with the helpless romanticism of Randy Newman, yet still sounds as if scene-stalwarts Calexico penned the ode. It's this light-heartedness which prompts much of the delight - 'Jan.24' skips along dizzily, 'The Gusher' could soundtrack a Euro porn-flick (hell, even that title could form the basis of a porn-flick), there's the spoken-word ambience of a jammy 'Low Ambition', while 'Sunrise' is as beautiful and strings-drenched as its name suggests, and 'Nothing Adventurous Please' is a contradiction in terms - itself a chugging fuzz-rocker.
A miracle. Two for one. And one album for all.
Artists in this article: Lambchop
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