It's taken me a while to get the hang of Lambchop. I first tried Awcom and was baffled, mainly by the corny instrumentals, but then I was introduced to Is A Woman, which made more sense. Now Damaged has got me hooked.
Kurt Wagner's fractured vocals blend particularly well with the smooth, almost orchestral backing and, although most of the songs are as calm and quiet as those on Is A Woman, the album holds your attention. The opening song, Paperback Bible, celebrates the small things - an old birdbath, a recliner and a prom pageant dress - being offered for sale on an American radio programme, presumably a forerunner of eBay. There is a real pathos in all these old possessions being cast out into the world to find a life with a new owner. I Would Have Waited Here All Day is the voice of a disappointed wife, dragging out her day, waiting for her husband to come home. It's not clear things will get any better when he does. The final track, The Decline of Country and Western Civilisation, raises the temperature with its reference to Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest and its refrain of "damn you're looking ugly to me."
I'm a convert now.
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