NTTR - No Time to Review

 I understand what Lambchop are trying to do here, and there are moments where it works very well. The stripped arrangements give Kurt Wagner more space, the banjo and acoustic guitar create a warm, almost domestic atmosphere, and the choir gives the record a very specific identity. But after a few songs, I also start to feel the limitations of that approach. The same combination of sparse instrumentation, murmured vocals and choral responses keeps returning, and what initially feels intimate gradually becomes slightly monotonous. The songs do not always have enough melodic weight to compensate. “The New World Wave” is the clear exception for me. It develops naturally, the lyrics feel less fragmented, and the choir actually adds emotional scale instead of simply decorating the song. “Weakened” works too, because the restraint matches the subject. But several other tracks feel more like well-written sketches than songs I really need to hear again. That is where the score drops. I...