/Rock-Pop/American
LAMBCHOP
oh (ohio)
Release Date: 06/10/2008
'oh (ohio)' continues the lambchop tradition, where each successive record represents a new stage in the evolution of their distinctive sound. it's a natural process which has seen them progress from their shambolic early recordings on 'jack's tulips' / 'i hope you're sitting down' to the off kilter pop experimentalism of 'what another man spills' on to the joyful soul of 'nixon' and then, pointedly, its polar opposite, the piano-led minimalism of 'is a woman'. most recently damaged saw wagner leave the porch from which he had viewed the world for so long and start looking inside himself, his dark meditations on mortality and human frailty matched by a band capable of taking delicacy to delicious new heights. 'oh (ohio)' finds kurt delving deeper into himself - the songs were road-tested on a wagner solo tour of the uk and europe in 2007. the album features a new producer, roger moutenot (yo la tengo, sleater kinney, freedy johnson), who split duties with marky nevers. this time, wagner has chosen not to highlight the album's lyrics so as to preserve the integrity of the songs as whole entities, not parts. of his lyric writing methods. the standout cuts are the slow-mo burn of 'slipped dissolved and loose' (featuring marty slayton on backing vocals) - which sees lambchop's trademark leisurely pace imbued with a notion of beat and movement, driven by recent recruit scott martin's drumming, most notably on 'popeye's surprisingly bracing crescendo. the shuffling shimmer of the brilliantly titled 'national talk like a pirate day', in which kurt weaves quotes from such disparate sources as susan sontag and 'i believe' which is the only cover song on the album, written by roger cook, a brit living in nashville, and a big hit for don williams in the 70s.
| CD code: slang1051218 | 7.99 GBP |
