Lambchop:
The Dude Abides
Lambchop have been attributed the tag of "the most consistently brilliant and unique American group to emerge during the 1990s". Finbarr Bermingham had a word with the head honcho and found out that he really is "just a dude" A conversation with Kurt Wagner is a lot like listening to him sing. His voice wavers between a deep throaty growl and a gentle higher pitched whisper, depending on how interested he is in the question. From time to time he’ll get excited, but since undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his throat a few years back, it’s doubtful he’ll ever be able to replicate the joyous falsetto that graced Nixon and Is A Woman. Instead he just laughs straight from the gut. Wagner in 2008 seems a happier man than back in ‘06, for plainly obvious reasons. I refer him to the closing track from Lambchop’s last album Damaged, The Decline Of Country & Western Civilisation, in which he seemed to have a pop at some of his more illustrious peers. “Certainly I threw a few punches out in that direction, but I think it was more about how frustrated I was then. You know, here’s a guy who’s just got diagnosed with all these problems and one of the things that happens is that you just lash out. It’s one of the stages you go through. One of them is anger, one of them is denial, then self-pity. I was so young and I was having to deal with this shit that I didn’t think I’d have to worry about for a long time.” Lambchop have been making music for 20 years. What started out as a hobby amongst drinking buddies in Wagner’s Nashville basement gradually gathered momentum, with the band enjoying popularity in Europe and the UK long before they’d established themselves in the States. When asked why they don’t seem to attract the same veneration at home, he is nonplussed. “I’ve yet to figure out a fucking answer!” he laughs, “Maybe then we could change things a little bit!”
Throughout the first decade of Lambchop, Wagner balanced his musical pastime with a job laying wooden floors, taking time off to play European shows on his own. It’s this background that has instilled a certain work ethic and modesty in the songwriter. “I can’t afford myself the luxury of thinking I’m worth more than I actually am. Everyday I’ve gotta look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Come on guys!’ If I did, then I wouldn’t be me.” All the while Wagner’s words are embellished with long wheezy bursts of laughter. “I’m still amazed that people show up at all. Man, I’m just a dude doing my thing!” When it comes to his music, however, there’s a firm self-assuredness lurking beneath the modest exterior. Lambchop’s new album OH (Ohio) is one Wagner is particularly pleased with. “I don’t wanna blow my own trumpet, but it’s a good record. I’m really happy with it,” is his succinct recommendation. The title of the album stems from the air of uncertainty in the USA around the time of recording. “Ohio is a swing state, but I’m not trying to be overtly political or anything, that’s just what was happening.” Wagner’s concern regards the recent surge in support for Republican nominee, John McCain. “I haven’t been there since this big shift happened. I’m walking around here wondering what the hell’s going on, I guess like you. I don’t know what I’m going back to.” He rounds the sentence off, as ever, with a trademark laugh - only this one is a little bit more nervous than the others. Lambchop play ABC, Glasgow on 31 Oct. OH (Ohio) is out on 6 Oct via City Slang
Steve Gullick
www.lambchop.net
Late of the Pier:
A Band O’ The Times
Having received a profile boost from the double-edged sword that is an NME cover, Late of the Pier are dividing opinion already. Nick Mitchell argues that you should leave any pre-conceived ideas at the door through blaring influences and genres, from the 70s camp rock of Queen and Bowie to the primitive electronics of Gary Numan, with echoes of 90s computer games and snatches of modern house.
Late of the Pier’s introduction to the mainstream last month was likely to have caused one of two reactions. Either ‘rush out and buy the album’ excitement (if you’re under 21, easily swayed by hype and still possess an open mind) or dismissal along the lines of ‘not another bunch of Klaxons clones’ (if you’re over 21, averse to hype and bullishly cynical).
now. After all, it had nothing to do with the band, according to bassist Andrew “Faley” Faley: “You don’t get any say with the NME. They use and abuse you, but at the end of the day they can do a lot of good, even if they’re using you. The new rave tagline was something that was bound to happen with them and there was nothing we could really do about it.”
That’s because the introduction came courtesy of an NME cover, which pictured the youthful Leicestershire band in the midst of a messy tribute to Jackson Pollock (sound familiar?), above a strapline that shouted: “What new rave did next”. But, dear readers (of all ages), please try to forget that image for
Well, they could have said ‘no thanks’, but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, because Late of the Pier have conceived one of the most imaginative, ambitious debut albums of the year so far. Fantasy Black Channel is a glorious mess; an unrestrained, unclassifiable, unexpectedly triumphant romp
40 THE SKINNY
October 08
As such, it isn’t particularly coherent – the tracks jostle for attention rather than recline together easily – but it’s a statement of huge musical intent from such an inexperienced band. So just how did it happen? “Em... accidents,” Faley sheepishly answers. “None of us have ever really had any training. I think Sam had drum lessons for two hours once. I used to play piano a bit but I was never really passionate about it. But apart from that none of us have done anything. Sam just sat in his room from the age of 12 making music and he slowly learnt his craft that way, and with the instruments it’s just been a case of teaching ourselves. It’s always about trying something new. The music’s just a big array of everything, literally everything. In music pretty much everything’s been done at some point but for us, since we didn’t live through those eras, there’s still something new and magical and fresh. It’s reusing old ideas with newer influences. It’s just accidents a lot of the time.” The band weren’t just relying on their own spongelike musical tastes and sheer chance though; they also had the input of Erol Alkan, the much-feted London DJ turned record producer. Alkan came to one of their gigs and promptly declared them “not just the most exciting new band out there at the moment, but THE most exciting band around.” The flattery obviously seduced the band, because Faley reveals that they’re already working on a new EP with Alkan for a January release: “We’re taking bedroom recordings into the studio and refining it
and tweaking it with Erol, turning it into a more presentable package. I think we’ll be working with him for a long time.” Why another release so soon after the album? “We’ve just got a lot of ideas,” Faley says. “Most of the album was old songs that we were getting sick of, so we’ve been waiting to work on new songs. And there is that second album syndrome when a band comes out so exciting and the second album comes out a year and a half later and there’s just not the same excitement. We’re still excited about what we’re doing at the moment so hopefully other people will be.” And with an evident habit of naming their music in cryptic, wordy fashion, have they got any title ideas yet? “No, but I’m sure I could think of 20 bad ones though. We’re really bad at names - really, really bad at it, and so we end up just picking one at random or just picking one up. Even the band name just fell together because there wasn’t anything else that sounded that good. It does have a reference but it doesn’t really make any sense. One idea we had for the album was Peggy Patch and her Sequenced Dress.” OK, so it’s probably best that they don’t make all their ideas public. With half the music-loving nation still grimacing at the unfortunate new rave reference, dodgy album-naming could be the equivalent of career suicide for Late of the Pier. All that remains to be said is this: just listen to the music.
Late of the Pier play the Arches, Glasgow on 2 Oct and Barrowlands, Glasgow on 17 Oct. New single, Bathroom Gurgle, is released on 20 Oct. Fantasy Black Channel is out now. www.lateofthepier.com
Music