Review of Come On Feel by David Sinclair
From Q September 1993
It seems a quaint idea now, but there was a time when being a "serious" rock band didn't necessarily mean carting a ton of attitude everywhere you went. In the'60s, happy-go-lucky types like the Lovin' Spoonful flourished alongside the heaviest hippies, and, in the '70s, The Ramones combined unimpeachable punk credentials with cuddly good humour. Now, like a daisy pushing through the surface in the post-grunge wasteland, The Lemonheads have come into bloom with an album which retains a modern guitar trio edge, but trades on a benevolent strain of wide-eyed affection instead of the usual witches' brew of snarling aggression. Evan Dando seems to have hit a purple patch. As a writer he is now bashing out memorable tunes by the yard, while his singing has taken on an appealing new resonance, the voice of a man secure in the knowledge that he no longer has to shout to catch people's attention. Often loud but never angry, songs like The Great Big No, Rest Assured, Dawn Can't Decide and Style combine a nimble melodic touch with punk-inspired propulsion. Juliana Hatfield has been replaced on bass by Nic Dalton (David Ryan remains on drums), but her backing vocals feature prominently on several tracks, notably Paid To Smile, a typically buoyant tune tinged with a slight air of melancholy, and It's About Time, a number which Dando wrote for her in the first place. There are 15 quick songs in all, lots of them acoustic, and some simply too light to last long in a stiff breeze. I'll Do It Anyway, with its revving harmony chorus and cheesy, '60s-surf guitar solo, is a song which Dando wrote for Belinda Carlisle, and it sounds like it (indeed, Carlisle supplies backing vocals). Being Around - which featured in their live sets last year - is a throwaway country rag which only just avoids sounding as twee as a James Taylor song thanks to the whimsical humour of the lyrics ("If I was your body would you still wear clothes?/If I was a booger would you blow your nose?"). Another acoustic guitar and pedal steel number, Big Gay Heart, fares better, its gentle touch again bolstered by the harder tone of the lyric ("I don't need you to suck my dick or to make me feel good about myself"). The one point at which the mood of the album seriously darkens is a compelling track called Rick James Style. A reprise of Style, featuring James on backing vocals, it's a twitchy exploration of the classic druggy's dilemma - "I don't want to get stoned but I don't want to not get stoned" - sung with an air of croaky exasperation that suggests a moodier side to the easygoing Dando persona. But for the most part Come On Feel The Lemonheads continues in the sprightly songsmith direction signalled by last year's breakthrough album, It's A Shame About Ray. Content to leave the stretching of envelopes and smashing of barriers to their more raucous peers, Lemonheads have produced a scruffy rock-pop album that is as loveable as it is listenable.