Lambchop I Hope You're Sitting Down CD

Lambchop mixes a wry, somewhat warped sensibility with a spacious, Quaalude-dipped sonic conception and spreads this unlikely concoction over the tried-and-true musical verities of rock, folk, and country. While singer Kurt Wagner's intimate, world-weary talk-singing relates lyrics that are at once ironic, silly, and highly poetic, lush arrangements of strings, horns, and organ (as well as mandolin, ukelele, and banjo) create a dynamically shifting noise seduction.

"Begin," "You Are The Very Air He Breathes," and "I Will Drive Slowly" investigate a surreal romantic world that charms and intrigues. One of Lambchop's best tricks is the band's ability to make the alt-rock slacker ethic co-exist beautifully with strong compositions and meticulous arrangements, creating music that is at once hip and otherworldly yet "small town" accessible. I HOPE YOU'RE SITTING DOWN perfectly articulates the band's atmospheric, humorous, and quirkily appealing aesthetic.

A mix of post-modernism and straight (not roots) country music. The spooky organ fills, saxes, clarinets, and cello make this sound at times like the Art Ensemble of Chicago-as-country-band. Kurt Wagner's morose, resigned lyrics and dry, almost spoken delivery can get hard to take over the course of the hour-plus disc. 16 tracks. Merge.1994.

Recorded at Sound Vortex and Music Row Audio, Nashville, Tennessee from December 1993 to March 1994.

Personnel: Paul Niehaus (vocals, guitar, trombone); Kurt Wagner (vocals, guitar); Deanna Varagona (vocals, banjo, cello, alto saxophone); Jonathan Marx (vocals, clarinet, alto saxophone); Bill Killbrew (guitar); Steve Goodhue (banjo, harp, mandolin, ukulele, strings, drums); John Delworth (Farfisa); Allen Lowrey (drums, percussion); Scott C. Chase (percussion).

Recording information: Music Row Audio (12/1993-03/1994); Sound Vortex, Nashville, TN (12/1993-03/1994).

Lambchop: Kurt Wagner (vocals, guitar); Paul Niehaus (vocals, National lap steel guitar, trombone); Deanna Varagona (vocals, banjo, cello, alto saxophone); Jonathan Marx (vocals, clarinet, alto saxophone); Bill Killebrew (guitar); Steve Goodhue (banjo, mandolin, ukulele, keyboards, drums); John Delworth (Farfisa organ, Hammond M-3 organ); Mike Doster (acoustic bass); Marc Trovillion (bass); Allen Lowrey (drums, percussion); C. Scott Chase (percussion).

Spin (12/94, p.109) - Highly Recommended - "...tweak the already shaky margins of alt-Opryland....a Gram Parsons anagram: earnest but definitely off-kilter...uneasy story-songs...in a voice so plaintive, you can hear his lips brush the microphone....a greasy slab of meat in sheep's clothing..."
Uncut (p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Right from the opening lines...Lambchop appeared to be pursuing an agenda way off the radar of rock music."
Alternative Press (2/95, p.65) - "...This record is about life at its basics, and the art of watching the world from your front porch....Lambchop's billowing taste of slow weather represents our best small-town Tom Waits..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.121) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "While strings, brass and woodwind smoke around him, disturbing images lift out of the sound like dirt in a washing powder commercial."
NME (Magazine) (12/23-30/95, pp.22-23) - Ranked #44 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995 - "The American Tindersticks, more or less. A dopily beautiful concoction of strings, horns, general creakiness and Kurt Wagner's vaguely pervy lyrics..."