Lambchop - Nixon (2000)

This is one of two Lambchop albums I picked up at the same time in a charity shop, long ago. The other one Is A Woman was reviewed very early on in this project, and was a very pleasant surprise. I'm normally not drawn to Kurt Wagner's brand of country-rock, but something here appealed. I referred to having listened to this one more, in that review, but I honestly don't remember when.

The album opens with the lovely, gentle The Old Gold Show, where Wagner's smooth voice envelops the listener in its warmth. Grumpus feels more upbeat, but I'm finding the string accompaniment intrusive and it's more bland and less impactful than the opener. You Masculine You, similarly, just drifts by, but Up With People wakes this listener up, a lively, full blooded soulful rocker. Nashville Parent has a certain appeal, but it's becoming just another slowie by this point, and it's followed by What Else Could It Be, an average soul-type song, spoiled for me by Wagner's falsetto vocals. The Distance From Her To There is a full on country ballad which grates, even before he repeats the falsetto, and the string intro to The Book I Haven't Read leaves me cold before the song gets going, but it's actually not bad, a gentle ballad. The Petrified Florist is slower and darker, but at this point in the album it's not really what I'm listening for, although it segues into The Butcher Boy, a stronger, more powerful end to the album with a wonderfully chaotic sound.

Where this album is good, it's excellent, but there's a lot of ordinary here.I probably need to investigate Lambchop further.

Link to album tracks

3* - some lovely stuff, but there are elements which don't work for me.