hhh, Lambchop, a band that defies all expectations to give us some of the most beautiful and earnest music I have ever heard. For a start, why such an improbable name for a band? Are we meant to think of the Shari Lewis sock puppet, or er, a choice piece of butchered sheep? What's worse is they are from Nashville , TN , and it really doesn't conjure up a good mental image, but dispel thoughts of rhinestones and Dolly Parton.

The band is a rolling collective of somewhere between 5 and 15 members and is somewhat awkwardly categorized as alt-country or chamber pop. With that number of musicians, including four guitarists for their live show, one might expect the music to be cacophonous. But they remain so quiet that the finest nuance of every player can be heard. The band's epi-center and songwriter is Kurt Wagner (no, not the translocator from X-Men 2). He is what Robert Smith is to the Cure, but don't expect funny hairstyles and make-up. In fact, the Kurt Wagner trademark appears to be the trucker cap and a toothpick or Kojak-style lollipop. But these don't appear to be hipster affectations -- he might be the originator of a terrible trend.

The band's seventh and eighth albums -- Aw Come On and No You Come On -- were both released on the same day. The band insists they are two separate releases, but my German copy came packed with both discs in a single sleeve. A twin release is rather overblown and just makes me think of the horrors of Use Your Illusion . Kurt apparently had a slew of new material after trying to write a song a day for a year and failing a movie score attempt.

So what we get here are two albums with 12 tracks each and any song would appear to fit equally well on either album, although No You Come On is a little more upbeat of the two. Both albums start with a somewhat annoying instrumental. I just want to get to Kurt Wagner's voice — it's a sort of growl, come whisper -- the sound of too many cigarettes and singing too close to the mike, but it is magically magnetic. I think I could believe anything as long as he sang it to me.

The band is at its best when the songs sound confessional. For instance, in "My Blue Wave" from their previous album, Is A Woman : "The dog gives you the paw/You pat his head and you wipe his jaw/He's the only one who knew/(about) My blue wave." But these songs are few and far between on the new album(s). Perhaps the best examples are "Action Figure" on the first disc and "Listen" on the second. But even these are not as slow, morose or heartfelt. Some will probably regard this as a good thing. Is A Woman was, on the whole, criticized for being dirge, but I loved it because of its emotion. It felt autobiographical.

With these two new albums, the tempo is more upbeat, which still means nearly mid-tempo and there are lots of pretty melodies executed beautifully with lush string arrangements. But for me, 24 songs are just too many and with so many songs of the same tempo, it just becomes some pretty but easy listening. There are too few tracks that really stand out. The oddest perhaps being "Women Help Create The Kind Of Men They Despise," which starts off with mostly just vocals and piano, almost lounge lizard-style, but then right at the end features some rather odd baritone vocal harmonizing. Another is "Nothing Adventurous Please," which sees the band move up past mid-tempo and is a welcome rocking break.

On the whole these two albums are a mild disappointment, but then I think about it more, and after listening to each song at least 10 times, I feel that I have barely scratched the surface. Repeat listenings are always rewarded with new subtleties. I cannot wait to see these songs performed live. Spot me at Iota on April 11th with a big grin, no yawns.