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Album Details

• Artist: The Lemonheads
• Album: The Lemonheads
• Label: Vagrant
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: christopherdrew on 2006-12-27

If there's one thing that's apparent on the new self-titled Lemonheads album, it's that Evan Dando sounds tired; certainly his last outing, the solo effort 'Baby I'm Bored' inspired a similar amount of somnolence in the listener. Here, at least, it sounds as though he's trying. The songs are catchy enough, as he's ably backed by the Descendents' Bill Stevenson and Karl Alvarez, both of whom seem right at home with Dando's lazy, tongue-in-cheek indie-pop; it's simply Dando himself who sounds as though he's constantly fighting off narcolepsy.

It's not a bad album by any means; 'Black Gown' kicks things off beautifully, sounding like the Lemonheads of yore: bouncy, clumsy and mischievous; and Dando's impish charm shows up here and there (sometimes even for the entire song! Go figger!) in tracks like 'Let's Just Laugh' and 'Poughkeepsie', and his lyrics are as clever and playful as always. I just get the feeling that this'd be more of an enjoyable album had it been released ten years ago, back when we were all wondering if 'It's A Shame About Ray' was a fluke (to be fair, it wasn't: Evan Dando is a very talented songwriter when he's able to control a) his drug use, and b) his ego; in fact, you should all go out and purchase a copy of that lovely album, right now...). As it stands now, this one just feels like he's offered too little, too late.

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