While they may have been conveniently lumped in with the alt country movement, Kurt Wagner’s Lambchop have always had a lot more to offer than that suggests. Over 11 previous LPs, countless tour-only releases, EPs and collaborations, Wagner has amassed a discography notable for its consistency of quality, stylistic breadth and the fact that despite those traits, they sound like nobody else.
FLOTUS sees their biggest departure yet in terms of song writing and production. While Wagner’s way with words usually finds him finding the emotionally resonant heart of everyday situations, here his vocals and lyrics tend to drift in and out, often repeating arcane phrases while obscured by vocoder-like vocal effects. It’s at first disorientating but – as with FLOTUS as a whole – becomes very affecting over time.
Similarly, the sound itself is something new, with looped beats and dryly funky bass the foundation on which Wagner’s musings build. That won’t be surprising to ’Chop watchers – electronica heads Scott Martin and Ryan Norris (with whom Wagner produced last year’s underrated HeCTA LP of similarly synthetic sounds) are now fully bedded in.
They’ve succeeded in creating a synthesis of analogue warmth and the stillness and space that electronics can bring that is very quietly among the best things they’ve done. Look to the closing The Hustle for evidence of the new Lambchop. It opens with five minutes of skittery, train-like beats, spare piano and synth, before Wagner comes to the fore, drums kick in and it becomes something quite transcendent. It’s one of many such moments on another career highpoint for Wagner and co.
