Lambchop

Kurt Wagner’s idea to write a song a day over the course of a few months has paid off not only for Lambchop, but most importantly, for Lambchop fans. Released as two separate discs like G N’ R’s Use Your Illusion, the new albums, sharply titled Aw Cmon and No You Cmon, are synonymous works, even though the band states "they are to be treated as separate entities.” Eluding the barren symphony of 2002’s Is A Woman, both discs seem to pick up from where they last showed signs of brilliance, on 2000’s Nixon. Aw Cmon, Wagner has admitted, is the proper album of the two. The soothing orchestration of "Steve McQueen” sets the pace for the record, which continues swaying with "Something’s Going On,” a possible answer to Marvin Gaye’s question and the midnight tenderness of "Nothing But A Blur From A Bullet Train.” No You Cmon, remarkably, is not considered an outright album, but simply a collection of songs. While it may not benefit from the same relaxed fluidity as Aw, it’s hard to imagine these don’t go side by side as a double album. "Shang A Dang Dang” is a rare, upbeat pop song that features Wagner’s bass vocals in full barbershop form and "The Gusher” begins with a three-second fuzz box riff that immediately collapses into a vocal jazz workout. Obviously it’s a disc of Lambchop having some fun, but there’s no harm in that, especially when most double discs suffer from "filler the killer.” Compliments to Lloyd Barry and the Nashville String Machine, who heighten Wagner’s compositions with a hearty dose of God-blessed strings throughout both records.