Review of Baby I'm Bored by Dan Cairns
From The Sunday Times 16th March 2003
BEFORE GOING off the rails in the mid-1990s, Evan Dando looked like the answer to alt-rock's prayers: 1992's Lemonheads apex, It's a Shame About Ray, saw the photogenic singer splashed over magazine covers while his music won critical plaudits, but drugs, hanging around with the Gallaghers and making bad records soon did for him. Baby I'm Bored thus has a lot riding on it, and it seems, initially, a disappointment. Perseverance is rewarding, though. Aided by members of Giant Sand and Calexico, Dando veers confidently between grunge chuggers (Repeat), Sparks-like pomp-pop (Waking Up), Beatles/country jadedness (It Looks Like You) and In the Grass All Wine Colored's engaging mess. Welcome back.