Rise

Formats

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  SLANG50013LT2 x CD  £12.00

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  SLANG50013LPLong Player  £15.00

Label

ROM

Lambchop

MR. M

Kurt Wagner has addressed loss, death and the indignity of ageing before, but never with quite such weary, stoic melancholy as he emanates here. Even when he lapses into cliche – "We were born to lose", "Who of us now knows where the time goes?" – his lugubrious voice makes you appreciate the feeling behind each commonplace expression. But, as exemplified by the (almost) title track, Mr Met, this quiet desperation is matched, phrase by phrase, with a belief in hope and happiness. It's most movingly articulated in Nice Without Mercy, one of the few songs to directly address the death in 2009 of Wagner's friend, Vic Chesnutt: "And the warm comes back," he sings, his voice just a shiver from accusatory, "even though you thought it would not." Wagner's conflicting emotions are reflected in his band's fluid, conversational playing: restless yet sedate, wistful yet furious, the sound is still on the surface but teeming beneath.

Tracklist

• 01 – If Not I’ll Just Die
  02 – 2B2
  03 – Gone Tomorrow
  04 – Mr. Met
  05 – Gar
  06 – Nice Without Mercy
  07 – Buttons
  08 – The Good Life (Is Wasted)
  09 – Kind Of
  10 – Betty’s Overture
  11 – Never My Love