Review of Lovey by Edwin Pouncey
From NME 25th August 1990
It’s probably too ironic
that, just when the Lemonheads were getting somewhere, things started to abruptly
shake apart. The amicable departure of founding member Jezze Peretz for a
career in film-making must have knocked Evan Dando for a loop, especially
when their spirited version of Mike Nesmith’s ‘Different Drum’
had received such high praise from all and sundry (this writer included).
Peretz also leaves behind a major label deal, for which this LP is the first
fruit. He should worry though… ‘Lovey’ is a wonderful record
to walk away from, a treasure of an LP that opens up the more you play it
to flood the soul with an almost excruciating joy. Lemonheads squeeze!
Those who found ‘Different Drum’ too poppy for their taste can
take heart in that the songs on ‘Lovey’ had a slightly rougher
edge to them. The pop element is still in force but there’s a brashness
here that playfully slaps back and demands your full attention as it casually
starts to tear your speakers apart.
Like Hüsker Dü when they were at their most ferocious or REM when
they were at their most Byrdsian hypnotic, Lemonheads play as one to get their
message across loud and clear. Even when a lead guitar breaks loose from the
whirlpool of sound that’s whipped up on ‘Come Downstairs’
it is soon sucked back before straying too far from the main body of the band.
‘Different Drum’ fails to make an appearance here. Instead Lemonheads
chose to cover Gram Parsons’ ‘Brass Buttons’, a song which
they quietly strum out and resist tampering with too much, a quiet interlude
before breaking into ‘(The) Door’. Here the full fury and magic
of Lemonheads is unleashed as wave after wave of guitar crescendo crashes
down around you to make your heart pound with excitement and a longing for
more of the same treatment.
Unfortunately that’s all there is. Lemonheads leave you with ‘Answering
Machine Message’, a sampled crank call that is both eccentric and surreal.
It’s one hell of a way to sign off what must surely be…Album Of
The Autumn!