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Rating: The human factor has never been the most favorable for approaching the Lemonheads and the charming Evan Dando. The "presentable face of grunge," with a good-boy look that made the hearts of indie-rockers around the world flutter and intrigued even the Ladies who read about his exploits in gossip magazines (after all, this album even includes the cover of "Mrs. Robinson"...), involved with everyone worth being involved with (from Winona Ryder to his bassist Juliana Hatfield, and even Courtney Love elegantly let it be known she had slept with him), unexpectedly fell from grace after the end of the alternative-MTV affair, to the point of being forced to play the foolish dancer (like Bez from Happy Mondays) at Oasis concerts to regain a minimum of visibility. Nevertheless, Evan was also a great songwriter, and this is what we want to talk about. If it's the news of these days that the Lemonheads are returning to the scene, the mind cannot help but return to Dando's best album, curiously still not reviewed here on Debaser.
"It's a shame about Ray" is a prodigious blend of college rock, a happy snapshot capturing the band during the transition from their apprenticeship in the Husker Du zone of the flourishing Boston scene (with already notable albums like "Lovey") to the period of charming tunes fit for Dawson Creek like "Into Your Arms" and "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You" that would characterize the creative agony of the lemon heads in the mid-last decade.
In less than thirty minutes within these grooves, one finds the hallmarks of a minor miracle: a work in which sunny folk melodies of the protective deity Gram Parsons, Mouldian guitar debris, and dazzling jangle pop intuitions converge with freshness and creativity.
Tracks like "Rockin' Stroll", "Rudderless" or "Alison Is Starting To Happen" are emblematic in this sense, with their fury caged in a bedroom pathos. However, the album's peaks are "Confetti", which sounds like Neil Young's "Harvest" peeled by the Ramone brothers, the title track with its soft intimate watercolors, the enveloping litany "My Drug Buddy," inlaid with a divine organ and the female counterpoint of the beautiful Juliana and the beach-bonfire song "Hannah & Gaby," with its soft roots aromas.
Dando added considerable value to the gems of "It's a Shame About Ray" with his warm and deep voice, seemingly detached while recounting the rosary of the good college rocker (innocuous stories of boredom, broken hearts, and drugs in middle-class residential neighborhoods, and skits fit for Friends like in the sugary "Kitchen"), yet always lively and engaging. Traces of this art have been found in the excellent – though largely ignored – solo debut "Baby I'm Bored," and in the end, we hope the handsome Evan still produces some delicious pop candies. Despite, at the time, favoring Eddie Vedder, his creased shirts, his greasy hair, and the various Jeremy.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Confetti (02:44)
He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could've.
The story's getting closer to the end.
He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could've.
He'd rather be alone than pretend.
She just wanted him to love her but he didn't.
He took to the woods and wandered in it.
Walked along and on until they couldn't.
Stole himself to tell her that he wouldn't.
He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could've.
The story's getting closer to the end.
He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could've.
He'd rather be alone than pretend.
She just wanted him to love her but he didn't.
He took to the woods and wandered in it.
Walked along and on until they couldn't.
Stole himself to tell her that he wouldn't.
He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could've.
The story's getting closer to the end.
He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could've.
He'd rather be alone than pretend.
03 It's a Shame About Ray (03:06)
I've never been too good with names.
The cellar door was open, I could never stay away.
I know it's prob'ly not my place.
It's either or, I'm hoping for a simple way to say.
It's a shame about Ray.
In the stone, under the dust,
his name is still engraved.
Some things need to go away.
It's a shame about Ray.
If I make it through today,
I'll know tomorrow not to leave my feelings out on display.
I'll put the cobwebs back in place.
I've never been to good with names,
but I remember faces.
04 Rudderless (03:19)
Waiting for some thin' to break.
Left my heart out to bake.
Nothing there in my glass.
Wasn't air meant to last.
Hope in my past.
Hope in my past.
Hope in my past.
Hope in my past.
{Play verse chords}
All the way down to the lake,
(Found the lake was wet).
How much more could I take,
(Better yet).
Walked back home to my place,
(Tired of getting high).
Guess I don't wanna die.
Hope in my past.
Hope in my past.
Hope in my past.
Hope in my past.
Waiting for some thin' to break.
Left my heart out to bake.
Slipped my mind that I could use my brain.
I'll stay up all night and crash on the plane.
Ship without a rudder's like a ship without a rudder's like a
ship without a rudder.
Ship without a rudder's like a ship without a rudder's like a
ship without a rudder's like a ship without a rudder's like a ship without a
rudder's like a ship without a rudder's like a ship without a rudder.
05 My Drug Buddy (02:51)
She's coming over,
we'll go out walking,
Make a call on the way.
She's in the phone booth now,
I'm looking in.
There comes a smile on her face.
There's still some of the same stuff we got yesterday.
There's still some of the same stuff we got yesterday,
yeah.
I'm too much with myself,
I wanna be someone else.
I'm too much with myself,
I wanna be someone else.
I'm too much with myself,
I wanna be someone else.
So we take off out Fiona's door,
Walk until it's light outside,
Like before when we were on the phone.
We have to laugh to look at each other.
We have to laugh 'cause we're not alone.
As the cars fly up King St.
It's enough to startle us,
It's enough to startle us
I love my drug buddy.
My drug, my drug buddy.
I love my drug buddy.
My drug, my drug buddy.
06 The Turnpike Down (02:33)
I'm lost in the see-through.
Pane always needs a bath.
Between a want and a need to,
Butterscotch streetlamps mark my path.
{Play verse chords}
My country was of thee
Now why'd you have to leave
How'd this come to have to pass
Butterscotch streetlamps mark my path
Mark my path, mark my path down.
Mark my path, mark my path down.
Mark my path, mark my path down.
Mark my path, mark my path down.
07 Bit Part (01:51)
I want a bit part in your life,
A walk-on would be fine.
I just want a bit part in your life,
(A bit part in your life).
I want a bit part in your life,
Rehearsing all the time.
I just want a bit part in your life,
(A bit part in your life).
Little more than a cameo
Nothing traumatic when I go
Litle more than a stand-in,
I won't need reprimanding.
08 Alison's Starting to Happen (01:59)
She'd shake it up, was hard to make out.
Now it's plain to see
I couldn't cook to save myself,
found my life a recipe.
I never looked at her this way before,
but now she's all I see...
Alison's starting to happen,
Alison's starting to happen,
Alison's starting to happen to me
It's so mesmerizing,
can't describe it,
all that inside, hey.
No one's heard her last name, I ain't asked,
So, who am I to blame?
An earthquakes started forming underneath my feet today...
Alison's starting to happen,
Alison's starting to happen,
Alison's starting to happen to me
Oh, this world is topsy-turvy,
and it is mine to eat.
She's the pebble in my mouth and underneath my feet.
She's the puzzle piece behind the couch, made the sky complete.
Alison's starting to happen.
Alison's starting to happen.
Alison's starting to happen.
Alison's starting to happen.
Alison's getting her tit pierced.
Alison's growing a mohawk.
Alison's starting to happen to me.
10 Kitchen (02:55)
Thrilled to be in the same post code as you.
I tell you things I know you'd like to know,
Treat you to cake every night.
Suddenly talk and it'll make you fright.
Smile at me, I'll hold you really tight,
Follow you into bed, run around till mornin',
We'll stay awake all night.
We'll repeat the same stories,
but of course never in front of friends.
How it all started in the kitchen.
Hey!
{play verse chords}
Remember the time you said we should wait awhile?
You'd let me know when you changed your mind.
Yeah, I was sad for some time.
But 12 hours watching me at the wheel
Made me realize what you really feel.
Won't have to hurt anymore.
Ooohhh......
Walking you home along Mt. Vernon Street,
You told me secrets I was shocked to know.
Pretend it was me every night.
I'm thrilled to be in the same postcode as you.
I'll come and visit, maybe never go,
Follow you into bed.
Run around till mornin' and we'll stay awake every night.
We repeat the same stories,
but of course never in front of friends.
How it all started in the kitchen.
{repeat and fade}
11 Ceiling Fan in My Spoon (01:48)
Started out today jello in the sand.
Went out of my way not to understand.
Walked into a tree don't you look at me.
See I'm not myself phoney mystery.
Sore afraid.
That's my tune.
Ceiling fan in my spoon.
Clothed in iron there's no denyin'.
When you feel like a bent fork tine.
Feelin' like a bent fork tine.
Clothed in iron there's no denyin'.
Sore afraid.
That's my tune.
Ceiling fan in my spoon.
Started out today jello in the sand.
Went out of my way not to understand.
Walked into a tree don't you look at me.
See I'm not myself phoney mystery.
Sore afraid.
That's my tune.
Ceiling fan in my spoon.
In my spoon...
12 Frank Mills (01:44)
I met a boy called Frank Mills,
on September 12th right here
in front of the Waverly, but unfortunately,
I lost his address.
He was last seen with his friend,
a drummer he resembles George Harrison of the Beatles,
but he wears his hair tied in a small bow at the back.
I love him,
but it embarrasses me to walk down the street with him.
He lives in Brooklyn somewhere,
and he wears his white crash helmet.
He has golden chains on his leather jacket,
and on the back, are written the names Mary and Mom and Hell's Angels.
I would gratefully appreciate it if you see him,
tell him
I am in the park with my girlfriend,
and please tell him Angela and I
don't want the two dollars back, just him.
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