LAMBCHOP
Damaged
Merge
· If Charlie Brown was a real, live person, he’d probably listen to Lambchop.
Good grief – how can singer-songwriter Kurt Wagner sound so depressed, yet be entirely optimistic at the same time? Maybe it’s the sad-sack vocals mixed with irreverent humour or lyrics that dissect the human condition down to its very core.
Make no mistake – Lampchop is pure Americana. It’s this ragtag ethos and hodge-podge musical style that makes the Nashville country-fried orchestra so infectious. Damaged mixes a "fuck all y’all" attitude with elegant instrumentation that has made the sometimes 17-piece band one of the most beloved and bewildering groups in indie music.
The album manages to highlight everything that makes Lampchop so special, while deftly trimming away filler seen on previous releases such as Nixon. Damaged is both huge and hushed, with Wagner seething at the surface – engaging his listeners with a sharp wit and mean streak reminiscent of 1998’s stellar What Another Man Spills.
The band’s multi-instrumental sound can be both menacing and fragile, composing intricate arrangements ranging from country and jazz to rock and soul. Lambchop represents the kind of America that I’d want to live in – eccentric, collaborative and entirely independent.
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