The Lemonheads released a new album last week, their second collection of cover songs, “Varshons 2” (we’ll get to a proper review of that album soon - promise). Yes, I’d rather this be an album of originals but a covers album is better than no Lemonheads at all, and maybe this is a sign of more Lemonheads originals coming soon. We can cross our fingers while wishing for more, and enjoy a perfectly good set of new Lemonheads interpretations of other songs. Besides, they’re touring in support of said covers album. So really, we’re getting all the benefits as if this were a set of originals - let’s run with it.
For me The Lemonheads represent the best parts of what one might describe as “90’s alternative”. They were big enough to get regular radio and video support, so kids like me living in small towns (with parents overly freaked out about music videos) could still discover and fall in love with their records. As someone who’s made hundreds of mix tapes over the years (and still makes mix CDs regularly), it was helpful to have staples for such projects. Evan Dando and company were always good for providing a song or 2 that regularly appeared on many a mix tape — “Confetti”, “Being Around”, and “Into Your Arms” being used repeatedly.
Once it clicked (which didn’t take long), there was this amazing back catalog of records to discover on indie labels, much of which was heavier and more punk than anything from the band that was receiving radio play (at least in my tiny home town). The rabbit hole was massive, and continues to grow in size — a fact for which I am quite thankful. It’s 2019 and we’re still getting new Lemonheads albums!
Last week I was chatting with my friend Angela about music, as we often do. I asked “do you like The Lemonheads?”, really expecting that to be treated almost as a rhetorical question — and expecting an immediate “of course” back as a response. We have pretty identical taste in music, especially anything under the “90’s alternative” umbrella. And that would be followed with “check this out — they’re touring and putting out a new covers album” along with mutual excitement from each of us. To my surprise, instead I heard “I don’t know much about them, but I like the few songs I’ve heard”.
On that note, I’ve created a Lemonheads 101 playlist on Spotify, in case there are more of you out there like Angela. :) Enjoy.