The word development is bandied around so frequently that it's easy to forget what it actually means. Bands talk regularly about how their sound has "developed", when in actual fact what they mean is that they invested a miniscule portion of their latest advance in a new keyboard or sequencer. Yeah, it's development, but it's not exactly groundbreaking. Then again, the word "groundbreaking" is bandied around so frequently that it, too, has lost some of its impact. So it's with a certain degree of hesitancy that we refer to LAMBCHOP's return as groundbreaking, and it's with equal caution that we suggest that LAMBCHOP are one of the few bands that can genuinely be said to have developed significantly with each release. But, with the delivery of two - count 'em - new albums, we feel that to miss this opportunity would be to do this most unusual of bands a massive disservice. LAMBCHOP have, you see, come one hell of a long way in the ten to fifteen years or so - accounts differ - since their casual inception in Nashville Tennessee, constantly evolving and, here we go, developing in a subtle but undeniable way. From their beginnings as an alt.country curio, musically lo-fi and lyrically warped, to their current status as one of the most critically acclaimed and - deep breath - groundbreaking bands around, this strange but beautiful beast has consistently challenged itself - accidentally or otherwise - to metamorphose into new forms. The links between each stage of its evolution are evident and yet, if you miss a link in the chain, the leap seems almost impossible. Compare early LAMBCHOP classics Soaky In The Pooper (from I Hope You're Sitting Down / Jack's Tulips) or The Man Who Loved Beer (from How I Quit Smoking) with Your Fucking Sunny Day (from Thriller). Compare Up With People (from Nixon), in turn, with The New Cobweb Summer (from Is A Woman). The connections are there and palpable, but the stylistic leap between each is sizeable. So now we come to the next stage in LAMBCHOP's complex innovation, and once again they have made big strides from their last resting place, 2001's Is A Woman. We now find the band poised in a place so fertile that they have delivered two - count 'em again - new albums. And, once again, these records bear only a passing resemblance to anything which has gone before. Their closest relation - something that the artwork highlights unashamedly - is undeniably their most commercially successful, Nixon, but their last album, Is A Woman, has clearly informed the process, and although this record is delightfully sweet in places, the band has lost none of its darkness, eccentricity, morbid wit or playfulness. Instead they have delivered two - count 'em one last time - indispensable additions to their already unforgettable canon. Like every LAMBCHOP record before them, they take a little time to reveal their glory, but like every LAMBCHOP record before them, the time is well spent. read more about "AW C'MON!" & "NO YOU C`MON!"