Ten years between albums is a long time for a musician to sustain momentum, but when you're Evan Dando, it's a matter of doing again what you do best: Stick close to what got you here. Of course, this self-titled record comes nowhere near the early Lemonheads' mayhem of Creator or Lick, but it does bookend nicely with the 1993 delight Come on Feel the Lemonheads. Backed by drummer Bill Stevenson and bassist Karl Alvarez, both ex of the Descendents and All, the album at times has a 110 mph feel, complemented by Dando's trademark rock-candy prose on songs like "Black Gown," "Pittsburgh" and "Rule of 3." But Dando's at his most fresh when he veers from the predictable—the country ramble of "Poughkeepsie" and the waltzing "Baby's Home," or when he lets loose J. Mascis for a stinging lead and solo guitar on "No Backbone." While this very well could be labeled a solo record for Dando, there's nothing wrong with the moniker that reminds us that the Lemonheads live on. --Scott Holter
Album Description
"It really sounds like THE LEMONHEADS. Maybe a little better." Evan Dando is getting a bit conspiratorial about the latest incarnation of the legendary pop/punk outfit he formed a full two decades ago, now about to unleash their eighth album on an unsuspecting and defenseless world. And how does this new release—the first for THE LEMONHEADS on Vagrant Records—compare to, say, Dando's much-acclaimed solo work of the past few years? "Louder, faster, more like BUZZCOCKS pop-punk—and way less introspective." Talk about getting back to your roots. For the Vagrant offering, Dando convened two of his early influences—the unholy duo of drummer Bill Stevenson (DESCENDENTS, BLACK FLAG) and bassist Karl Alvarez (DESCENDENTS)—in a remote Rocky Mountain hideaway. And it was there, off and on over eighteen months, that they kicked out the first LEMONHEADS album in ten years. Said guitarist/singer/songwriter Dando of Stevenson and Alvarez, "I wanna make another loud record, and those are the guys to do it with."
Dando and Stevenson co-produced the album, and Stevenson wrote or co-wrote three of its eleven songs; long-time Australian collaborator Tom Morgan added another two. And very much inna LEMONHEADS stylee, there's cameos galore: from wunderkind bassist Josh Lattanzi ("Poughkeepsie", "Rule of Three", "In Passing"), certifiable rock giant Garth Hudson (THE BAND, who plays keyboards on "Black Gown" and "December"), and some real foot-on-monitor guitar work by DINOSAUR JR's J. Mascis ("No Backbone", "Steve's Boy").
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