{"product_id":"lambchop-punching-the-clown","title":"Lambchop - Punching the Clown","description":"\u003cp\u003eLambchop's Punching the Clown, released in 2026, strips Kurt Wagner's songs back to voices, banjo and acoustic guitar, and the result is one of his boldest left turns yet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor more than three decades, Wagner has steered Lambchop from Nashville alt-country through soul, chamber pop and the Auto-Tuned electronics of FLOTUS. This time he looked to lined-out singing, an Appalachian gospel tradition built on call and response, and recorded at Justin Vernon's April Base studio in Wisconsin with producer Ryan Olson. Vernon plays banjo and appears throughout, joined by a six-piece choir.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Weakened\" set the template as the first single, its banjo and castanets carrying Wagner's murmured, cinematic images. \"Stella\" leans into old-time folk with a bluegrass-flavored chorus, while \"The New World Wave\" spins a shifting story worthy of John Prine and \"To Do\" builds on those call-and-response vocals until the room seems to fill with voices.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWagner's lyrics remain wry, observant and quietly political, sketching American life with a novelist's eye and a comedian's timing, often in the same verse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is an intimate, strange and beautiful record, built on the simplest materials and somehow sounding like nothing else in his catalog. Best heard on a quiet evening with the lights low.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alliance Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57518430847281,"sku":"673855089713","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0704\/2026\/7313\/files\/Lambchop-Punching_the_Clown.jpg?v=1794677600","url":"https:\/\/vinyl.com\/products\/lambchop-punching-the-clown","provider":"Vinyl.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}