Lambchop, originally Posterchild, is an American band from

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Description and history

Initially formed as a three piece in 1986 with Kurt Wagner, bassist Marc Trovillion and guitarist Jim Watkins with the name Posterchild. They released some low-fi bedroom recordings on cassette such as ''I’m Fucking Your Daughter''. In 1992 they released a split 7” with Crop Circle Hoax which got the attention of entertainment lawyer George Regis, who sued on behalf of the similarly named band Poster Children. After trying a few different names they settled on Lambchop and signed to

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

in 1993 releasing their debut single ''Nine'' that year. Never a band with a "core" lineup, Lambchop has consisted of a large and fluid collective of musicians focused around its creative centre, frontman Kurt Wagner. Lambchop is loosely associated with the

alternative country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

genre. Initially indebted to traditional

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

, the music has subsequently moved through a range of influences including

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

lounge music Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The ra ...

. Whatever the style, the characteristic mood of Lambchop's music is evoked by Wagner's distinctive songwriting: lyrically subtle and ambiguous, the vocals melodic but understated. ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' described Wagner's lyrics as "witty and deeply insightful." They were the backing band for Vic Chesnutt on his 1998 album '' The Salesman and Bernadette''. Singer Kurt Wagner is married to founder of Nashville 90's record store, Lucy's Record Shop and Tennessee Democratic Party leader Mary Mancini.

Personnel

Summary of members as credited on studio albums (1994–present) Former bass player Marc Trovillion died of a heart attack in October 2013, aged 56.

Discography

Releases as Posterchild

*"An Open Fresca" / "A Moist Towlette" (split with Crop Circle Hoax) (1992)

Cassettes

*'' Secret Secret Sourpuss '' (1990) *'' Big Tussie '' (1992) *'' Sorry About the Deformed Heart '' (split with Crop Circle Hoax and Spent) (1993)

Singles

*"Nine" / "Moody Fucker" (1993) *"My Cliche" / "Loretta Lung" (1994) *"Soaky in the Pooper" (1994) *"Your Life as a Sequel" (1995) *"Scared Out of My Shoes" (split 5" vinyl single with Spent) (1995) *"The Man Who Loved Beer" (1996) *"Hank" (1996) *"Cigaretiquette" / "Mr. Crabby" (1996) *"Whitey" / "Playboy, the Shit" (1997) *"Give Me Your Love (Love Song)" (1998) *"Your Fucking Sunny Day" (1998) *"Up with People!" / "Miss Prissy" (2000) *"Is a Woman" (2002) *"Something's Going On (and On)" (2004) *"The Hustle" / "When You Were Mine" (2017)

Studio albums

Compilation albums

*'' Tools in the Dryer'' (2001) *''The Decline of the Country and Western Civilization (1993-1999)'' (2006) *'' The Decline of Country and Western Civilization, Part 2: The Woodwind Years'' (2006) *'' Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine'' (2010) *''Turd Goes Back: Essential Tracks from Secret Secret Sourpuss & Big Tussie'' (2011)

Tour only albums

*''Pet Sounds Sucks (Live at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco)'' (2002) *''Mono (Live in Würselen, Germany)'' (2003–04) *''Nashville Does Dallas'' (2004) *''Boo Fucking Who? (Live in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium)'' (2004) *''Succulence (Live in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria)'' (2006) *''Rainer on My Parade (Live, various locations)'' (2008) *''Democracy'' (2012) *''Live at the

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Symphony Chamber Hall'' (2017)

EPs

*''Hank'' (1996) *''The Queens Royal Trimma'' (Live

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

, London – Tour Only) (2000) *''Treasure Chest of the Enemy (Tour Only)'' (2001) *''CoLab'' (with Hands Off Cuba) (2005) *''Mr. N'' (2012) *''Basement Tapes'' (2019)

Live albums

*''Live at XX Merge'' (2009)

DVDs

*''No Such Silence'' (2007)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambchop Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee American alternative country groups Musical groups established in 1986 1986 establishments in Tennessee Chamber pop groups Merge Records artists City Slang artists