Lambchop are back. The Nashville mainstays recorded Punching the Clown with Ryan Olson on production and Justin Vernon moonlighting on the banjo throughout. As with the rest of the album, the single “Weakened,” below, also features a six-piece choir. Scroll down to find the tracklist, Graham Tolbert’s album art, and the band’s forthcoming tour dates, including just a handful in the United States—Minneapolis, Chicago, and Brooklyn—before a more extensive European run.
Lambchop principal Kurt Wagner took the band to April Base, Vernon’s Wisconsin studio, to record Punching the Clown. Of the single, Wagner said in a press release, “People seem to really like this one!” Listen out for the castanets—they are the only percussion on the album.
Elaborating on the album and its roots in Scottish and Appalachian gospel music, he went on:
in early 2024 i heard a song on the radio on my way to get some gas.
just a minimal single chord strummed banjo and a small group of voices.
it seemed perfect in the moment as the moment became perfect in itself.
i never found out who it was, sounded kinda like early country gospel?
in a time of searching i discovered a type of gospel singing known as lined out singing
which is said to have begun in the late 1800s in scotland.
it migrated to appalachia and became an obscure root of american gospel, country.…
a spontaneous call and response type of acapella singing led by a clerk with a chorus of singers
revealing the raw beauty and power of the human voice with its unique varieties
its unadorned simplicity gave weight to the words as they were sung.
i wanted to make a record that emulated this kind of music.
Wagner and the band’s last LP, in 2022, was the similarly well-named The Bible.
Lambchop: Punching the Clown
Lambchop:
06-28 Minneapolis, MN - Crooners Supper Club
08-30 Minneapolis, MN - Crooners Supper Club
09-27 Minneapolis, MN - Crooners Supper Club
09-29 Chicago, IL - Maurer Hall @ The Old Town School of Music
10-01 Brooklyn, NY - Public Records
10-02 Brooklyn, NY - Public Records
11-18 Viseu, Portugal - Teatro Viriato
11-19 Lisbon, Portugal - Culturgest
11-21 Braga, Portugal - Theatro Circo
11-22 Espinho, Portugal - Auditório de Espinho
11-24 Manchester, England - New Century Hall
11-25 Sheffield, England - Octagon
11-26 Gateshead, England - Sage 2
11-27 London, England - Union Chapel
11-28 London, England - Union Chapel
12-01 Dudelange, Luxembourg - Opderschmelz
12-02 Antwerp, Belgium - Arenberg
12-03 Roeselare, Belgium - De Spil
02-07 Oslo, Norway - Konserthus
02-09 Trondheim, Norway - Byscenen
02-11 Copenhagen, Denmark - DR Koncerthuset
02-12 Hamburg, Germany - Christianskirche
02-13 Berlin, Germany - Passionkirche
02-14 Erlangen, Germany - Markgrafentheater
02-16 Vienna, Austria - Theater Akzent
02-17 Budapest, Hungary - House Of Music
02-19 Glasgow, Scotland - St Lukes
02-20 Galway, Ireland - St Nicholas’ Church
02-21 Dublin, Ireland - The Helix
Punching the Clown:
01 Just West of Nicollet
02 A Doctor in the House
03 Weakened
04 Stella
05 Punching the Clown
06 White People
07 The New World Wave
08 Andrew Jackson Ass Hat
09 Afterburner
10 Cigar
11 To Do
12 No Chicago
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