The Goo 1
Regular NIXON (2000) - LAMBCHOP 25TH ANNIVERSARY
YEAR GRAPE VINYL - CONOR FARRELL Lambchop is a band. Lambchop is an ensemble. Lambchop is a revolving door of session musicians and guests. All of this is true, yet at its heart Lambchop is Kurt Wagner. Wagner grew up in Nashville—a Nashville he describes as uneventful, a place where “nothing ever happened, and there was nothing to do.” He initially pursued painting and sculpture, eventually working at various paint stores before turning to laying down hardwood floors. Music wasn’t a grand ambition at first. It began when Kurt and two close friends, Jim Watkins and Marc Trovillion, started "foolin' around" at Trovillion’s house. None of them had designs on being a frontman, so Kurt slid into the role of guitarist, singer, and songwriter almost by default. Initially called Posterchild, the band evolved into Lambchop—a project that was modest in its pursuit of fame but wildly ambitious in other ways. Wagner envisioned no limits to Lambchop’s sound or scope. There were no rules about what instruments might be used, what genres to explore or how many members they could have. As Wagner put it: “If they wanted to hang out or whatever, I’d say, "Well, what did you play in high school?’ ‘I got a clarinet.’ ‘Well, great, come on over.’” What began as a three-piece grew into an ever-expanding collective, PAGE 46 sometimes swelling to more than 20 members. Musically, Lambchop is as elusive as Wagner himself. The first couple of albums carry a post-punk/indie vibe, but even from the beginning, the roots of Nashville can be heard from Wagner’s Gibson and the occasional lap steel. Their sound was quiet and unhurried, with songs often taking their time to unfold. Wagner’s vocals, with its low register, and almost spoken quality, often came across as limited but were perfectly matched to his unique songwriting. He wrote about mundane situations and odd and humourous observations, yet there was always a compelling and commanding presence in both his words and delivery. Wagner himself cuts an unconventional figure as a frontman. His look is understated and unglamorous: jeans, a t-shirt or casual shirt, and his signature Co-Op baseball caps, which he’s rarely seen without. He resembles a truck driver or a handyman, which, in many ways, is fitting. For years, even as Lambchop sold albums and filled venues, Wagner continued sanding and laying floors. “We’d be offered a show at Royal Albert Hall, and then I’d come home and sand floors,” he reflected. “And I thought this was beautiful. I was convinced you could make records and balance it with a normal life". But that balance would shift overnight with the release of Lambchop’s fifth album, Nixon (2000). Imagine Curtis Mayfield and Townes Van Zandt meeting in Nashville to make an album with Gamble and Huff arranging strings and horns. The result is Nixon, a masterful fusion of Nashville’s country roots and the lush sophistication of 70s soul. Wagner’s vocals switch seamlessly between his low, rumbling register and a delicate soulful falsetto. The album kicks off with its best Nashville boots, on the late-night atmospheric Old Gold Shoe. Grumpus follows with its funky groove and irresistible, bouncy Motown bass line taking the energy up a few notches. You Masculine You and What Else Could It Be showcase Wagner’s falsetto, which teeters on the edge of breaking but never falters, giving the songs a delicate vulnerability. The album’s standout track, Up with People, captures Nixon's uplifting spirit, with handclaps, soaring gospel harmonies, and swelling strings that make the world feel momentarily right. Nixon marked Lambchop’s breakthrough, crossing the Atlantic to find even greater acclaim in the UK than in America, topping numerous year-end best-of lists. 25 years on, it remains one of the seminal albums of the 21st century.