Album Rating: 4.5

Anyone ready to make the big call and claim this is better than FLOTUS?



It’s really close for me, ‘The Hustle’ is clearly the best song on any of these recent albums but beyond that the opener here is perfect too. There’s something really spot on about the track flow here and even FLOTUS didn’t really have that with the last two songs being a lot more standalone in feel. Dunno.

Album Rating: 4.5

Idk Doof, I do find a good amount of the debut songs petty "meh" or even bad even if the best moments (opener, Soaky, Bowling) are essential tracks for sure and realized their potential right off the bat. The 10 track cut would probably land at a solid 4 though, about equal to the other 90s albums for me.



Regarding this vs. FLOTUS, FLOTUS certainly has a lot of nostalgia for me being the one of the first 'Chop albums I heard. Hustle is just 18 minutes of perfect music but the rest of that despite some slightly lesser tracks also has a real great atmosphere even if there aren't many I return to as solo tracks. This 50 minutes of music here might be better than the remaining 50 minutes of FLOTUS without Hustle but Hustle is pretty massive so it's hard to compare.

Album Rating: 4.5

FLOTUS sometimes feels like 'In Care of', 'NIV' and 'The Hustle' as almost standalones - and then you have the 'middle section'. It's like the addendum is the best part of the album.



This feels like a true 'album experience' that flows with track sequencing logic, feels self contained and complete

Album Rating: 4.5

As an entry point I’m not sure but what the hell go for it Sowing

Album Rating: 4.5

Hm, yeah I’d recommend something like OH (Ohio) or Mr. M as a Sowing starting point far before this but I hope you enjoy regardless!

Album Rating: 5.0

For what I generally want when I go to Lambchop I think this is more preferable than FLOTUS, but when I do listen to FLOTUS I tend to think it's the best thing Chop has done.



This actually could work pretty well as an entry point. It might even be the most Sowing-core Lambchop actually haha.

Album Rating: 4.5

The lyrical imagery in "So There", with the juxtaposition of gruesome gore and beautiful/positive things, is so great, classic Wagner.



Also, the reference to the debut's title toward the end of the closer also gives some credence to the sense this could be their last...

Album Rating: 4.5

Good catch Boney, closer is real good too



For entry point I’d say all of ‘OH Ohio’ or ‘Nixon’ up to about track 9!

Album Rating: 4.5

Avant-country is not a half-bad descriptor for about 70% of these guys’ music.



And Doof most of Nixon is indeed pretty friendly but you also have Wagner’s falsetto on a lot of that which can certainly be grating at first. But I agree Ohio is maybe their smoothest listen overall. Should pull that one out soon, it and of course Is a Woman are autumn essentials.

Album Rating: 5.0

My recent revisit of Mr. M really clicked for me as well. Some of their most emotionally heavy writing is on that record

Album Rating: 4.5

Definitely some of their best sad songs - ‘Kind Of’ and ‘Never My Love’ especially

Album Rating: 4.5

Sowing - even as a seasoned Lambchop listener this took me about five listens to really even start to digest.



'Daisy' came up randomly on Spotify after I'd listened to the Will Sheff solo album and it just floored me in that context (of being ever so slightly bored by the end of the Sheff), this is so good



Persevere Sowing, and I'd hate if you stopped at just this album - classic band here. Once you're done with this you have to try 'OH Ohio' for a couple of spins I'd say, just see what you think (it's very different to this)

Album Rating: 4.5

It’s still worming its way into me after 6 spins, going with a slightly conservative 4 for now but the 4.5 bump is likely.

Album Rating: 4.5

Boney, yeah this isn't a 5....it'd need a 'Hustle' to be a 5, but the 4.5 seems secure. Woman, Smoking and Nixon are top three but this is probably 4th or 5th in the standings with FLOTUS. It just hits the mood it's going for like all the best Lambchop albums do.



On another note, I tried to get into the double album again and have reduced it to a 10 track all vocal selection of what I enjoy most from it...will spin that a few times next week and try and finally attempt to fully bond ;)



What I will say with the double album is now I'm starting to appreciate a few of the songs more it is incredible he forced himself to write a song a day for it, for sure I think some of the songs/ideas would have been better with more time spent on them but as an experiment it's interesting.

Album Rating: 4.5

I tend to find the double album songs more impressive on their own, I think the real issue is it lacks a cohesive vision in the way most Lambchop albums do. It’s all “good” but it is about what I expect a “MOR” Lambchop album to sound like.

Album Rating: 4.5

It definitely has a MOR blandness lurking in there, prob not helped by the instrumentals.



I still think the Lambchop I sleep on the most now is 'Damaged'...usually the album that I started with for a band I love has a special significance but with 'Damaged' I sort of park it happy to know it's there but not majorly drawn to revisiting it often (other than 'Paperback Bible' of course)

Album Rating: 4.5

I’m surprised you haven’t seen/heard of them before, there’s a small but very devoted following here that includes most of the coolest people. ;-P These guys are proverbial growers on the level of yer National so def keep trying. As mentioned before something like OH (Ohio), Mr. M, or Nixon would be a great way to go for a slightly smoother and friendlier (and primarily acoustic alt-country/chamber pop) experience than this, or FLOTUS if you want more of the indietronic art pop thing. And after those (or before, why the heck not) you can try the real big boy, Is a Woman. :D

Album Rating: 4.5

Yes, I don't think this would end up your favourite Lambchop Sowing so dig deeper sometime

Album Rating: 4.5

Doof, Damaged loses me a bit, the first two tracks are perfect but after that it smooths out to mostly "decent" mid-00s style Lambchop tracks (read: still "great" by most artists' standards...) until the closer. Most of that middle portion is not too far off from the double album though realistically, Beers and Crackers are great too but most of those rest blend together in my head, but it helps the album being shorter and having those couple classics early on and a memorable closer.

Album Rating: 4.5

Well, I just stayed up entirely too late listening to this twice in a row… Yup, it’s immaculate, 4.5.