Not Their Best Effort
04/21/2004
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I have all of Lambchop CDs and I still can't figure out what they're about. When I heard that they were releasing two separate albums on the same day I serious wondered whether this was "jump the shark" time. It's not, but it's close.I must be among the few who feel that No You C'Mon is not as good as Aw C'mon. Lambchop has always been about nuance. Its best moments are not individual songs, but all about creating a mood or an emotion. Kurt Wagner's (a stronger performance here than on Aw C'Mon) gravelly whisper, a string section flourish, a Mark Never's guitar treatment or a cascade of Paul Neihaus steel guitar...elements like this give Lambchop its appeal. This may be why I have such a hard time choosing which Lambchop song to put on a mix tape. A Lambchop song needs the context of an album in order to fully come to life.While No You C'Mon doesn't meander as much as Aw Cmon and its songs are a little more listener friendly, there aren't as many inspired moments as on Aw.Like just about all Lambchop releases, there are a handful of memorable moments surrounded by a same-ness of material. I really like "Low Ambition"--sounds like nothing else they have ever recorded and indicates that there still may be new directions for Lambchop to head. And "Nothing Adventurous Please" is IMO the best "faster-louder" song in the band's catalog. "About My Lighter" revisits the alt.country side of the band, to pleasant effect. I deducted one star simply because "Under The Dream of A Lie" is built around virtually the same riff as "Scamper" (a much better song) from What Another Man Spills.If you are like me, you have already taken your favorite tracks from Aw and No You, ditched the filler and created your own single CD."