• Record Label: Merge
  • Release Date: Feb 17, 2004
User Score
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User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3

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  1. DecepticonPom
    Oct 27, 2004
    8
    Must admit I can't help but regard these two albums as one beautiful double player. Not normally what I would go for but an unexpected delight and my album of the year so far. Laid back, sometimes even ambient, yet rollocking in places, this was my most surprising discovery of 2004.
  2. markf
    Mar 12, 2004
    8
    This album came out the same day as "Aw C'mon." Lambchop has been around for awhile, and I hadn't bought any new music for months, so I thought I'd take a chance, based on what I'd heard about them. The other album I played first since based on the titles, it seemed the right thing. It was OK, but nothing I would have paid for if I'd heard it beforehand. I will This album came out the same day as "Aw C'mon." Lambchop has been around for awhile, and I hadn't bought any new music for months, so I thought I'd take a chance, based on what I'd heard about them. The other album I played first since based on the titles, it seemed the right thing. It was OK, but nothing I would have paid for if I'd heard it beforehand. I will agree that this is similar in many ways, but somehow, it seems more alive, both musically and lyrically. The songs have a wider range of tempos, instrumentation and vocal stylings. It also seems far more mature. Sure, I would have liked a few more uptempo pieces, but the variety does prick up your ears; they even do what almost sounds like an homage to the most fuzzed-out Yo La Tengo and some kinda jazz that seems like it should have been in an early 60's French film. The string section seems to be used to better advantage on this one too. I definitely enjoyed this album more, not so much for being visionary, but at least as a more fruitful composite of the past and the future. Does anybody else think that Kurt Wagner sounds like a "Harold and Maude"-era Cat Stevens? Expand

Awards & Rankings

Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 23
  2. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Alternative Press
    100
    As is the case whenever [Kurt] Wagner's velvet croon wraps itself around a night that ends so late it's already morning... there really isn't a critic in the world who can touch him. [combined review of both discs; Mar 2003, p.94]
  2. Q Magazine
    80
    Both albums are lovely in the way that only Lambchop can be lovely. [combined review of both discs; Mar 2004, p.112]
  3. Admittedly, this two-headed beast, however benevolent, isn’t a flawless creation. There’s the inevitable White Album-style filler to bulk up the tracklist. [combined review of both discs]