Three albums in and Lamb still chose to open their Glastonbury set with 'Gorecki', the hit from their debut that launched a thousand downbeat compilations. It tells the story of a band that's struggled to shake off their association with that mid-nineties obsession with all things 'trip-hop'.
They're not, of course, a trip-hop act and their inclusion on the line-up of the Jazzworld stage at least recognises their natural allegiance with every sneering rock critic's least favoured four letter word. As Lou Rhodes prowls the stage in her party frock delivering the band's trademark unsettling jazz vocals you'd be excused for thinking that you'd got them figured out.
Then Andy Barlow flips a switch and launches a torrent of digital noise and rotor blade breakbeats and all preconceptions are rendered worthless.
Funnily enough, Lamb can be held at least partially responsible for Nelly Furtado. That postmodern cut and paste pop that flows smugly through languages and international styles is a close corporate cousin of all the experimentation that went on in the comedown from acid house.
Nelly, however, polishes it all up with a level of professional sheen that's little short of alarming from one so young. Catapulted to Pyramid Stage status seemingly overnight, she's a superstar readymade. Precocious, preened and patronising she serenades us with a drawn-out 'I'm Like A Bird' complete with the obligatory scratched vocal sample imploring the crowd to "c'mon."
As Queens Of The Stone Age literally throttle the sound out of their instruments over on the Other Stage, the contrast could hardly be starker.
