Kurt Wagner: The quiet American

LAMBCHOP are America's leading underground band, secret kings of a scene too modest to be named. They have turned their backs on the bombastic MTV mainstream, turning their volume down till you can hear every creak and whisper of their sound. It's a strange brew of US pop's lost arts, from traditional country to Memphis soul, jazz and funk, resulting not in some lazy hybrid but in music that's organically their own. It's a remarkable feat for a loose Nashville collective of at least 16, who have survived almost unnoticed for a decade.