The Lemonheads
Aunty first heard The Lemonheads when she was reasonably passed out on a loungeroom floor in Kipling Street St Kilda a couple of decades ago, some time after “underground”, just before “grunge” and a few years before “alternative”. Someone played a song about a man loving and missing his stove. “I miss my stove, she’s all alone”. It made perfect sense to me.
Those irresistible pangs of nostalgia were in their songs right from the start.
And what songs they are. Songs songs songs songs. Yes, the sound is great, Evan Dando is a handsome man with a honey voice but it’s those songs… kinda melancholic, sublime, glorious… just wonderful. Some written in Australia, some with, by and about Australians. It’s a Shame About Ray, The Outdoor Type, If I Could Talk I’d Tell You, It’s About Time (my fave), Being Around (check out Courtney Barnett’s cover), My Drug Buddy, Rudderless, Alison’s Starting To Happen, Big Gay Heart, Bit Part and on and on and on.
From Wiki: On April 23, 2008, at the inaugural NME US Awards ceremony at the El Rey in Los Angeles, Dando received the classic album award for “It’s A Shame About Ray”. According to reports, soon after receiving the award, Dando deposited it into a garbage can, telling a minder “I don’t want this”.
It’s about time.
