Review of Come On Feel The Lemonheads by David Cavanagh
From Select November 1993
Behold, the sweet trolley arriveth. The only problem about loving the Lemonheads is that there hasn’t been enough new stuff over the last 18 months. ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ takes 29 minutes and 24 seconds to listen to in its entirety, so anyone planning to overdose on it would probably be laughed out of casualty. Which is why your first reaction to hearing ‘Come On Feel The Lemonheads’ (a 15-tracker) ought to, wow, it’s a lot more substantial. This is not just a trick of the numbers; Dando’s actually out-written ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ and delivered a great one.
You have to imagine even more tuneful songs than ‘Ray’, significantly crunchier and more electrically guitar-led, and with more interesting diversions. Dando’s voice is stronger, too, sounding like Mark Eitzel on ‘You Can Take It With You’. Also, there are lots of little touches to add to the sense of occasion. Dando’s left in a lot of studio chat to make it more of a party. ‘Dawn Can’t Decide’ has him calling out the chords as part of the lyrics, and ‘Rest Assured’ features an exhilarating “one-two-three-four!” on the slope down into the chorus. And throughout, Dando’s descanted by the sort of penthouse harmonies only a person of Juliana Hatfield’s squeakiness can provide.
It starts mag-nif-icently with ‘The Great Big No’, the breeziest and uncanniest bully-off to an album this side of the into to ‘The Headmaster Ritual’. God that’s good, you think. Well, keep thinking, because the whole first side verges on the flawless. ‘Into Your Arms’ (the first single) has a simple two-note guitar motif all the way through that’s as ingenious as a cat flap. ‘Paid To Smile’ could almost be a Hatfield song – about the inane things some women are expected to do for money – but ‘It’s About Time’ and ‘Big Gay Heart’ are total Dando: the first dropping lines like “enough about us, let’s talk about me” and “have your people contact me/and keep your lawyer on the line”. Breaking up songs should never start “I read her note/she left it by the phone”, which is what most people do, and Dando’s way above that. “Big Gay Heart” is the album’s oddest song, but if he means what we think he means, then we think he means it; please don’t break his big gay heart. It’s a country song, by the way.
Side two is more varied. ‘I’ll Do It Anyway’ and ‘You Can’t Take It With You’ are good ‘Heads tunes; ‘Dawn Can’t Decide’ is even better; ‘Being Around’ is a country version of the B-side of ‘Mrs Robinson’; and ‘Favorite T’ is a deliciously detailed song about a guy who likes trying on his girlfriend’s clothes while she’s out, and knows he’s on borrowed time as the relationship’s going sour. ‘Rick James Style’ is a smokey, New Orleans-y version of a song on side one called ‘Style’, which is a guaranteed populist classic. A song that basically goes: “I don’t wanna get stoned/But I don’t wanna not get stoned”, when they play festivals again this will fill the field. ‘The Jello Fund’, a bizarre piano interlude from Dando, is the last track.
And so you may have call to flip it over. It’s a joy to hear a songwriter getting his craft so right, and no disrespect to the other ‘Heads (Nic Dalton, bass, and drummer David Ryan) but Dando’s mixing most of the cocktails here. He needed to do something pretty good to tip ‘Ray’, and he has. And this time it lasts 40 minutes and 58 seconds. Get in there.