So then, a Country & Western concept album. The double CD package and call/response title led me to believe that I was all set for a rerun of Tales from Topographic Oceans, this time set in Nashville and played on pedal steel. Or could it be a riposte to fellow Southerners Outkast's double-header? Well, there's no concept here, just a band stretching out over two albums instead of one. Indeed, there's not much to discern between the two discs, although Aw C'mon is possibly more reminiscent of the lush Nixon, whilst No You C'mon is sparser and more edgy in the vein of its follow-up, Is A Woman. We are talking feel-good country soul for the most part, pretty music played very well by nice people. The instrumentation is great, everything fits together beautifully, and the musicians know how to let the music breathe. This is no easy feat when there are around twenty of them. There are some interesting instruments on here as well - sorry if I'm being ignorant, but what on earth is a knife guitar?
So, a great album then? Well, no, not as far as I'm concerned. A pleasant album, no doubt about that. Great background music, some would probably say. Maybe so, but hell, I'm more into foreground music myself (not fairground music mind, that would be plain weird). Many of these tracks float amiably by, piano motifs over swelling strings, Kurt Wagner mumbling over the top (this guy must smoke more than Bill Hicks [RIP] and Denis Leary combined to attain a vocal that sounds like his voice box is on the point of collapse), but it's not enough. Many of the tracks follow this pattern, so it becomes very difficult to distinguish between them, particularly when the lyrics are indecipherable. There are exceptions to this, of course: "Nothing Adventurous Please" is more upbeat and stokes up a groove with its harsher guitar sound; "Jan 24" chops and changes and generally has far more about it than the other instrumentals; and "The Gusher" has a South American feel to it before kicking off at the end. There is also one stinker: "Shang a Dang Dang" is a whimsical folly and not really very amusing.
Although I quite like some of the tracks here, overall there just isn't enough here to keep me interested. That's a shame because Lambchop show glimmers of invention, and if these were pursued more and the quality control was stricter, one very good album could be the result. This may not be a concept album, but I feel like appropriating the title and demanding more from Lambchop. I mean, C'MON!
Aw C'mon:
1. Being Tyler
2. Four Pounds in Two Days
3. Steve McQueen
4. The Lone Official
5. Something's Going On
6. Nothing But a Blur From a Bullet Train
7. Each Time I Bring It Up, It Seems to Bring You Down
8. Timothy B. Schmidt
9. Women Help to Create the Kind of Men They Despise
10. I Hate Candy
11. I Haven't Heard a Word I've Said
12. Action Figure
No You C'mon:
1. Sunrise
2. Low Ambition
3. There's Still Time
4. Nothing Adventurous Please
5. The Problem
6. Shang a Dang Dang
7. About My Lighter
8. Under a Dream of A Lie
9. Jan. 24
10. The Gusher
11. Listen
12. The Producer