I think it is hard to overstate the importance of the Lemonheads in the early 90′s music scene. While everyone else was heading off in a harder, more ‘Nevermind’ than ‘Nevermind’ direction, they almost resembled a grunge Lovin’ Spoonful. As drug intakes went up, harmony went down, and bands like Alice In Chains – a metal band with grunge’s heroin leanings – were taking the whole scene away from its alternative roots and down a tunnel which the mainstream felt more comfortable with. Records as dark and heavy as ‘Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath’ abounded, albeit with smack-beaten nihilism in place of paranoia and any sort of barking at the moon. For those of us who had thrilled to grunge’s melding of harmony to histrionics, who loved the way the scene seemed determined to embrace the outsider, it was a depressing time.
Which is why this record was received by a grateful public like a cold beer on a warm day. Shaking aside that it was – and is – brilliant, it looked right. The cover still looks perfect. The band looked great. Evan Dando was a million-dollar movie star in a Gram Parsons t-shirt. It was a perfect summer record. Songs like ‘Confetti’ and the title track stand up 16 years later as the shimmering pop beauties they are. Sure, it was the cover of ‘Mrs. Robinson’ that kicked it all off, but it didn’t matter what got people to check this album out – once they had, they were hooked.
Looking back, it’s still a small (33 minutes) cornucopia of treats. ‘Bit Part’ is such a smashing little love song with a great lyric (‘I want a bit part in your life, a walk on would be fine, rehearsing all the time, for a bit part in your life’. ‘Alison’s Starting to Happen’ sounded like a manifesto to me when I was starting to go to parties and find a taste for sickly substances and sticky girls. (Also, ‘Alison’s getting her tit pierced, Alison’s growing a mohawk’ would indeed soon become a template for teen rebellion.)
It wasn’t all pop – ‘My Drug Buddy’ still has one of the most grubbily realistic depictions of scoring I’ve ever heard (‘Is this some of the same stuff we got yesterday?’) and apparently the title alone gave CBS a heart attack. The wonky cover of ‘Frank Mills’ from Hair was a bona fide moment of humour in a rock era almost entirely devoid of it.
So it’s back, and rather pointlessly re-issued with the usual raft of ‘How It Was Made’ booklets and slight extra tracks (if a track wasn’t good enough to get on to an album they had to tack a cover version on to the end to get it over half an hour 16 years ago, it isn’t good enough now.) But it has been re-mixed, and sounds magnificent. This is either a great nostalgic drive or a trip to a cool new neighbourhood. It makes you regret Dando’s descent into drug-crazed joke in the second half of the 90′s. Still, highly recommended.
Filed under: Album Review, Classic Albums Tagged: | Dando, Grunge, It's a shame about Ray, Lemonheads
One of the first albums I can remember buying with pocket money along with Slanted and Enchanted which is still in my all time top ten – as is this.
I listened to it the other week on the way to work and it’s grand. Car Button Cloth is a much underrated album by the Dando.
Car button cloth is worth it purely for outdoor type, IMHO. But then, I am a bird.
With ‘Lovey’, ‘It’s a Shame…..’, ‘C’mon Feel….’ and ‘Car Button Cloth’ he had a four-album streak up there with anyone in the 90′s. His solo album ‘Baby I’m Bored’ is worth checking out too, post-drugs and much more reflective and sombre. I also enjoyed the comeback Lemonheads album, though would be hard pushed to argue it is better than any of the albums listed.