The Lemonheads - 'The Lemonheads' (Vagrant) Released 25/09/06

For every band that leads a peaceful coexistence of releasing an album, and maybe, if all goes well, a follow up, there’s another band that haven’t got it quite so easy. The Lemonheads don’t just embody the latter of that scenario, they invented it. Formed by Evan Dando in 1986, The Lemondheads line-up has seen more changes than a Labour Party front bench, with Dando remaining the only constant certainty throughout. So we should all be surprised that eight years on from the release of their greatest hits, The Lemonheads are back with a new, self-titled album that sees them re-visit past glories, only louder, faster and with a greater sense of unity than before.

Recorded in a remote Rocky Mountain hideaway with new members, Bill Stevenson and Karl Alvarez (Descendents), and, of course, Dando, ‘The Lemonheads’ opens with the short but frenzied ‘Black Gown’. Beginning with a piano prelude that makes you wonder if someone put the wrong CD in the case, it soon transforms into a "Buzzcocks" inspired rock melody and a manifesto of what’s to come from the rest of the LP.

Dando’s battle with drug addiction (triggered by the increasing pressure when The Lemonheads, and particularly his ‘celebrity,’ amplified during the early 90’s) is vividly echoed in the lyrics of this album. The cathartic sounding, ‘Lets Just Laugh’, is philosophical about life, “Let’s just laugh / We can never do anything about anything anyway.” Similarly, the Dando/ Tom Morgan written, ‘No Backbone’, follows this new, almost ‘ke sera sera’ outlook on life.

The country rock feel to the record is evident in ‘Pittsburgh’ and ‘In Passing’, but with Dando adding less contemporary and more twisted guitar riffs to ensure the urgency conveyed through his lyrics is maintained in the music itself. Less country, more stadium rock comes courtesy of Dinosaur Jrs' J Mascis on guitar for ‘Steve's Boy’. One of a number of cameo appearances that reminds us just how influential The Lemonheads once were.

They might not have been around for a while and although they’ve returned to pastures old with album number eight, Evan Dando’s new reformation of Lemonheads should be welcomed back with open arms as we all remember what could have once been.