As The Lemonheads prepare to release Varshons 2, we revisit this Album By Album piece, originally published in Uncut's March 2010 issue (Take 154) Evan Dando has calmed down since his near-procession into narcotic oblivion in the mid-’90s, but he can still do old-school things to hotel rooms. Now...
THE LEMONHEADS
THE LEMONHEADS
Vagrant, 2006. Produced by Bill Stevenson and Evan Dando
A shockingly good set was lent zesty life by a stellar lineup, including J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr, Garth Hudson from The Band and the rhythm section from The Descendents.
I heard about a Brazilian festival where all these young bands were doing Lemonheads songs. They made a whole day of it. I didn’t go, but that made me think there was enough interest out there for us to do another Lemonheads record. And the songs I was writing were faster, and sounded like Lemonheads songs. I ended up thinking that it was the Lemonheads record that sounded like all the other Lemonheads records should have sounded. I mean, it’s just got the best players on it. It was like The Lemonheads on steroids, and it was really great fun. I wanted it to sound like part of The Lemonheads catalogue, but I wasn’t nervous about how it would be received. I’ve gotten past all that stuff. There was a time I’d bite my nails, but now I know I’ve got something going that I can sustain.
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THE LEMONHEADS
VARSHONS
The End Records, 2009. Produced by Gibby Haynes
An eclectic collection of cover versions, reinterpreting GG Allin, Christina Aguilera, Gram Parsons, Sam Gopal, among others. Guests include The Only Ones’ John Perry, Kate Moss and Liv Tyler.
I bought this painting, the one on the cover, and that’s what gave me the idea. I’m not quite done with my next proper record, which will probably be another solo album. And I bought the painting, by Mark Dagley, and I wanted to put it into the art budget rather than just buy a painting that expensive to put on my wall. So I asked Gibby [Haynes, Butthole Surfers] if he’d produce a covers album, and he said yes. There are untouchables – the Velvets, The Stooges, The Beatles, the Stones, Al Green. I never do songs that are my absolute favourites. You don’t want to mess with the recordings. Leonard Cohen is verging on that status, but with Liv I thought it would sound different enough, so that was fair. There were some that didn’t quite make it. “Zero Willpower”, by Dan Penn – we tried to do that and it didn’t really come together. “How Can We Hang Onto A Dream?” by Tim Hardin, as well. But I think that’s coming out as, uh, an e-side, or something.
