Review of Baby I'm Bored by Robert Cherry
From Rolling Stone May 2003
What has the former Lemonheads leader been up to these past seven years? That's the question Evan Dando seems to ask himself on this solo debut. He drawls a litany of self-abuse ("You stayed awake for fourteen days") on the Hank Williams-tinged "Why Do You Do This to Yourself?" and chastises himself elsewhere by declaring, "Whatever part of you that's been calling the shots is fired." The problem is, he's got a point here: Thirty-eight minutes of co-writes and covers feels slight for seven years' work. But with help from roots-rocking friends such as Aimee Mann's producer Jon Brion and members of Calexico, Dando's better parts -- the bedroom voice, the aching melodies, the wry self-deprecation - end up rising to the surface on Baby I'm Bored.