Lambchop "2b2" video: Watch it exclusively on Slate (VIDEO)

Watch the Brand New Video for One of Lambchop's Prettiest Songs

Watch the Brand New Video for One of Lambchop's Prettiest Songs

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Slate's Culture Blog
April 11 2012 11:14 AM

Lambchop Debuts New Video on Slate

Kurt Wagner in 2B2 video by Lambchop
Kurt Wagner in a still from the new Lambchop music video for "2B2"

Back in February, when the new Lambchop album, Mr. M, arrived, we recommended 10 essential tunes for those new to their one-of-a-kind catalog, which combines old-fashioned country with musique concrète, among many other styles and influences.

This week, Kurt Wagner and company sent us the brand new video for one of the loveliest songs on the new album, "2B2." The title, which is repeated in the song as a kind of very brief chorus, evokes text-speak; Wagner declined to share the "specific or greater meaning" of the phrase, though he allowed that there was one, and suggested that "perhaps there is still time" for it "to become part of the texting lexicon."

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The proverb-like lines in the closing verse ("One man cooks with powder / The other cooks with stones") refer to a conversation Wagner had with founding bandmate Jonathan Marx. "We were talking on the phone and we discovered we were both cooking chickpeas," he said. "The lyrics are a basic chronicle of events surrounding a specific evening when I came to an understanding. Some might call this a revelation, I just call it a relief."

You can watch the video below. The gorgeous guitar Wagner is playing throughout is a 1940s Gibson L7, by the way, which Wagner says he's had "since about 1995."

David Haglund is the literary editor of NewYorker.com.