Review of It's A Shame About Ray
by Mike Daly
From East Coast Rocker 27th May 1992
Record Of The Week
At this juncture in the long history of rock, we've again reached that part of the cycle where many artists are taking a stripped-down approach to recording and performing. Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend is the most successful recent example of the trend. Today, for the most part, if an artist's lyrics are worth hearing, their recordings are very basic; the bigger the production, it seems, the less the artist has to say.
The timing of the trend couldn't be better for the Lemonheads, especially considering that they're no longer a band at all. Evan Dando is the sole constant member of a group that began six years ago, when four recent high-school grads pooled their fundage and put out their own EP. Over the course of four indie albums and two major-label releases, the core lineup whithered until only Dando was left.
For lt's A Shame About Ray, the
chief Lemonhead is joined by a drummer David Ryan, who played on the
Atlantic debut, Lovey, and bassist/vocalist Juliana Hatfield, now on an indefinite
solo hiatus from the Blake Babies. Guest stars include legendary guitarist
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, keyboardist Barry Goldberg, and
rock'n'roll twin Gunnar Nelson (?!). The trio ensures a stripped-down sound,
but, through the frequent use of acoustic guitars and other low-volume instrumentation,
it's more apt to compare It's A Shame About Ray to the Replacements' Don't
Tell A Soul than to Sweet's Girlfriend.
The leadoff cut, a hyperactive
jolt called "Rockin Stroll," is about as heavy as the record gets,
thanks to
a layer of super-distorto guitar. Its companion piece, "Confetti,"
is a tune about romantic paralysis that by
all rights, should be a new pop classic.
By now, Dando's vocal style - a
hybrid of Elvis Costello, Paul Westerberg and Joey Ramone - has
become firmly established. The pure-pop title track tells an amhigous story
about a guv who meets an
unspeakable, inexplicable end. Hatfield's second vocal highlights the angst-ridden
"Rudderless.'' while her simple but unconventional bassline buoys "Turnpike
Down." A male/female acquaintanceship based on substance abuse is at
the center of the midtempo "My Drug Buddy."
In "Bit Part," Dando
uses movie lingo to propose a casual relationship. Friendship becomes infatuation
in "Alison's Starting To Happen" ("to me" is the song's
marvelous hook). Baxter's slide work stands out on
the countrified "Hannah & Gabi." "'The Kitchen" (written
by Nic Dalton) is the setting for the igniting of a romantic spark. According
to Dando, the edgy, urgent "Ceiling Fan In My Spoon- is about "being
in a bad mood and going to a restaurant and you see the ceiling fan in your
spoon" (o-kay...). The LP closes
with an acoustic reading of "Frank Mills," an odd narrative from
the musical, Hair.
Besides its appealing no-frills
sound and Dando's off-center handling of standard subject matter, It's A
Shame About Ray' is also blissfully short - just over a half hour. In this
case, as in most, less is definitely
more. Let's hope this is the beginning of yet another trend.