Music Review: The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray (CD+DVD Deluxe Edition)
Published April 04, 2008
The Lemonheads were one of those bands not quite at the center of the '90s alternative movement but close enough to it to generate some pop culture name recognition and sell a few records. The band developed a devoted and passionate following that grew during those amazing years when alternative music flourished. Somehow I never got to hear anything by them except their cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson," which I didn't like very much.
Fast forward 16 years.
The Lemonheads' most famous album (dare I say classic) It's A Shame About Ray is being re-released in a remastered, expanded, deluxe package. I'm a decade and a half late, but I'm finally arriving to the Lemonheads' ball.
The first thing I learned when I opened the package? THAT'S WHERE JULIANA HATFIELD CAME FROM! Which, turns out not to be exactly true but it was a bit of a eureka moment. Hatfield fronted her own band, The Juliana Hatfield Trio, throughout the '90s. Her association with Dando and Lemonheads (in addition to her previous work) helped bring her some attention which in turn gave her solo career some momentum. That's another one of those "I know the name but not the music" figures for me.
Listening to the music is giving me some truly bizarre sensations. Music I never listened to before in my life is bringing back memories; or rather the feeling of memories. I don't know if I was this disaffected and disillusioned in 1993, but this record is making me think I was. I remember those years and I think I remember feeling like this. Was it the music that made me feel it or did the music reflect how I already felt? Probably a bit of both. Those are the lenses through which I process It's a Shame About Ray, and I've determined the kid who would have flipped out over this record is still inside me somewhere.
Rock and roll has always been a youth-centered medium. The way most superstar artists found their way to the top was by finding a way to connect to a young audience. Chuck Berry wrote about the teenage years better than anyone. Even though much has changed in the 60 years since Berry wrote his best songs, his insight into the mind of the American teenager are still some of the sharpest ever written. The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan — they all found their way into the hearts and minds of the young during turbulent times when youth culture felt empowered to change the world. The disco revolution of the '70s, while musically revolting, was all about dancing and having a good time. The punk movement later in the decade was all about teenage rebellion. The '80s glam metal scene was about hedonistic pursuit of pleasure and excess: sex, drugs, rock and roll. Think of it as disco without the dancing; the fashion was still bad but the music was, in some instances, marginally better.
Josh Hathaway is a Senior Editor for BC Magazine. He is formerly an award-winning journalist and broadcaster and publishes the BC Network site Confessions of a Fanboy.
- Music Review: The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray (CD+DVD Deluxe Edition)
- Published: April 04, 2008
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Alternative Rock, Music: Adult Alternative
- Writer: Josh Hathaway
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Hey, thanks, Charlie. This was my first actual exposure to the band I really like the record a lot. I just can't believe it didn't get on my radar at that time. I'll have to check out Come On next.
I had no idea Dando was again touring under the Lemonhead moniker again. I'd like to hear some new music from him, too.
Dando released a new album in 2006 under the Lemonheads name and it's pretty decent, semi-hard-hitting stuff. I saw them live at the Middle East in Cambridge last December - reviewed the show for Blogcritics - and they did a few songs from it. Funny, I don't remember hearing any of those "new" songs from the '06 record the other night.
And a correction: I don't think Dando ever played "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You" the other night. Dando does a solo part of the show where he rips through a bunch of songs on his electric guitar (some from his solo years) and I might've gotten that one confused with "Outdoor Type." But it doesn't matter. He still sounds great after all these years and is touring under the Lemonheads name behind two punk veterans Kyle Alvarez and Bill Stevenson (from the Descendents, I think).
Hey, if you want, check out this review of the Lemonheads show from the other night before it's archived.
Apparently Dando no longer has the Descendents guys backing him - he's got yet another different mix of musicians touring with him (it's getting to be like Axl Rose territory with all the musicians he's gone through). I don't know if they are still touring and if they are stopping by wherever you live, but whatever incarnation the Lemonheads are in, they are definitely worth checking out.
At this point with all the lineup changes it seems as though Dando is the key component to the band. As long as he's there, I might have to check them out.
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Hey Josh, good review! And yeah, 1993 is like nostalgia heaven for me. SO much great music came out around that time, even artists I found out about many years later had good albums around that year (i.e. Red House Painters). The Lemonheads in fact, came out with back-to-back classic rock records in 1992 ("Ray") and 1993 ("Come On..."). I hope '93's "Come On And Feel The Lemonheads" CD gets a similar treatment to what they're giving "Ray" now. But I'm not expecting that anytime soon.
The early '90s and '93 in particular was also a great year for Boston bands: Lemonheads, Juliana Hatfield Three - she left the Lemonheads by 1993 -, Dinosaur Jr. and more were all getting pretty well known nationally around that time.
I actually still have the "Ray" cassette tape in a draw somewhere! I'm also (patiently) still waiting for my review copy of the reissue of "Ray" to review for Blogcritics. In the meantime, I got to see the Lemonheads rock out at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston on April 1, where they played the entire "Ray" album (minus "Mrs. Robinson" which Evan Dando can't stand anymore from what i hear).
Great show, by the way. They did old faves in addition to the album as well, like "The Great Big No" "Style" and "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You." There was even a cameo by the lead singer of Urge Overkill (another early '90s rock sensation), who came out to sing Urge's hit Neil Diamond cover "Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon" with Dando. It was messy but still fun.
With the Lemonheads, R.E.M., Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr. and other '80s and '90s bands reforming in recent years, it's just nice to see great rock and roll making a comeback.