The Best Kept Secrets: The Best of Lamb 1996-2004

Lamb

Best Kept Secrets, a collection of songs from Lamb's first four records, is a reminder of how exhilarating and shockingly modern their music can be. It's also a crash course on the band's precarious balancing act. When they're in sync, the somber torch singing of Louise Rhodes and the twisted proto-jungle of producer Andrew Barlow make for a delicious combination. The band's self-titled debut trumped contemporaries like Portishead, who built songs around the vocals, while Barlow and Rhodes worked on playing up their stylistic contrasts. It's a tough dynamic to maintain though, as later records like Fear of Fours and especially 2003's Between Darkness and Wonder don't quite get the formula right. Laid out in chronological order, Secrets is just like the band's career to this point: It starts off great, but tails off at the end. This being a "best of," however, you notice it less. "B Line" off Fours, for instance, sounds just fine coming after new classics like "Cotton Wool," and even though tracks like "Angelica" are almost painfully safe, they still kick up a nice ruckus. --Matthew Cooke

The Best Kept Secrets: The Best of Lamb 1996-2004 Album: