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Lambchop - TRIP (2020)

Lambchop - TRIP
Lambchop have been around for three decades, enough time for the group to shed and pick-up a few members - but apparently not enough time to yield any real missteps. In fact, the group is remarkably consistent, creating the kind of following that allows its listeners to squabble over which albums are the best without any definitive answer from one fan to another. In all that time Kurt Wagner has remained the guiding force behind the group’s songwriting and democratic ethos. As the voice of Lambchop, Wagner also remains the most easily identifiable of the group’s members, remaining one of the constants in the revolving collective’s long history. Part of what’s kept the band going all these years is the singer’s rejection of becoming a domineering frontman. This year’s TRIP may best exemplify how the band manages itself, with each member selecting a different song to cover while unifying under a distinct style.

The album opens with a cover of Wilco’s “Reservations”, a straightforward rendition that Wagner draws out to an impressive 13 minutes. Whereas the original knew exactly how far to take its listless melancholy, Lambchop’s version accentuates the dread and imposes only a few leitmotifs to maintain structure. In the end, this track takes up nearly a third of the album and is all the better for it, adding a nice counterbalance to the poppier spurts throughout.

Another highlight is their take on George Jones' take on “Where Grass Won’t Grow”. A somber and relaxed take on the underrated story-song, Lambchop evoke their alt-country roots without sacrificing the progress they’ve made over the years. The strength of these two tracks in particular, has clearly influenced the album's sequencing. By placing them ahead of the rest of the albums more rock-oriented covers, Lambchop flaunts their capacity to explore the atmosphere of these songs, while acknowledging what their audience is seeking out first.

“Shirley” and “Love is Here and Now You’re Gone” are fairly straightforward in their renditions and seek more to expose listeners to The Mirrors and Holland-Dozier-Holland and break up the tracklist, than they do to offer any exploratory ruminations on Lambchop or the songs themselves. Similarly, James McNew’s “Weather Blues” an unreleased song from the Yo La Tango bassist, provides insight onto a great songwriter instead of the song itself. Perhaps the most well known song on TRIP, Stevie Wonder’s “Golden Lady” also features the most dramatic representation. As the crux of the album, the band reimagines Wonder’s hazy love song as a simmering and depressing lament, a song whose ambiguity is given stern clarity in its dejection. Wagner, who’s famous for his shy lyricism does a lot to fill these songs with enough personality so that despite the words being unmistakably not his, each song is a Lambchop song. As with all great musicians, Wagner embodies each track on TRIP the way he would any other album, and in the end, provides another strong entry in Lambchop’s ever-growing discography.

~7.5

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