Lemonheads Lean On The Past

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 18, 2009 3:40PM

Lemonheads leader Evan Dando is a music fan of wide ranging tastes. His choice of covers, both in concert and in the studio, pays testament to this with some of his most famous choices reworking tunes by The Misfits, Paul & Simon, and Suzanne Vega. So it's not surprising that his latest album Varshons, performed with the umpteenth incarnation of his band, should tackle covers with a dizzying variety of sources.

Prodding him along is producer and Butthole Surfer Gibby Haynes, and we have to admit that the pairing of two famously oft unhinged personalities filled us with hope. The best covers take the essence of a song and redress it as something else completely different that can stand out as an artistic statement by the singer providing the new translation. Unfortunately Haynes brings the safe production values that have been the death of his full time group while Dando seems to have left the new found fire of his last disc, The Lemonheads, at home. The fire in the hearth warming this new album is weak and illuminating.

What makes the end result even more disheartening is the waste of an incredibly adventurous song selection. Covers range from Gram Parsons to Wire to G.G. Allin to Arling & Cameron, and even Fuckemos. Dando's treatment of each serves up a bland reading that ends up melting all of the genres into a tepid soup with only one hint of spice. This is found in his tender performance of the Christina Aguilera ballad, "Beautiful," a song his honeyed yet husky tenor turns from an anthem into a plea. We wish he had utilized similar levels of tenderness and empathy elsewhere on the disc.

What make this album even more of a shock is that in the live setting Dando has gone from being unpredictable in the past to delivering consistently solid live sets over his last few Chicago visits. Perhaps he'll tackle some of these tunes with more gusto when he appears at The Abbey for a two-night stint this weekend?

The Lemonheads, June 19 and 20, The Abbey, 3420 W Grace, 9 p.m., $18, 18+