Lambchop: Is A Woman : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Like Babyface, Kurt Wagner of Lambchop has an uncanny knack for constructing quiet arrangements that feel far more simple and acoustic than they actually are. But Babyface crafts hits, while Wagner's calling is far stranger: He's a born indie rocker and art-obsessed Southern fatalist who somehow wound up fronting a Nashville big band. That the Lambchop assemblage -- a mixture of keyboards, guitar, percussion and a single baritone saxophonist -- rarely step out from behind Wagner's croaking musings only adds to the uniqueness of the project. Where almost every soundscape to be heard in pop these days starts from a thin base and is augmented digitally, Lambchop move in the opposite direction: They're a chamberful of sound trying to squeeze in. Upping the challenge still further, Is a Woman sands down most of the embedded hooks that made their last album of new material, Nixon, such a surprise. With repeated listens, what feels at first like unmelodic obduracy reveals some hidden charms. A groove will build up out of the sound of theremin whistles, or Wagner will toss out a vulgarity just to interrupt the preciousness he's compelled to create but also understands is kind of full of shit. The result is homey and livable -- life without coffee. Not your average pop pleasure; not your average band.

ERIC WEISBARD
(RS 891 - March 14, 2002)