Inspirations rarely come more inspired than Gibby Haynes, the leader of the Butthole Surfers. For years, Gibby slipped Evan Dando mixtapes, and the Lemonheads leader pays tribute with Varshons, a covers album largely consisting of songs from those cassettes and produced by Haynes. At first glance this pairing might seem odd, but Gibby and Evan are both old hardcore punks with a taste for the strange. Evan may have crossed over more than Gibby, who made a career out of odd, but he never quite abandoned weirdness, with even Come on Feel the Lemonheads collapsing in the murk of "The Jello Fund." All the same, Varshons is easily the strangest Lemonheads record in maybe two decades and it's not so coincidentally one of their best, perched between the ragged, formless mess of their earliest records and Dando's enduring love for sweetly weathered country-rock. Gram Parsons, Evan's longtime idol, surfaces on Varshons, as does Townes Van Zandt, but a truer indication of the sun-warped spirit of the album lies in how the Lemonheads revamp Wire's "Fragile" into country-rock or how scum-rocker G.G. Allin's "Layin' Up with Linda" is given a murder ballad revision that resonates. But Varshons isn't all country -- there's a thick layer of Texas psychedelic haze, a rather ingenious take on Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful," a duet with Liv Tyler on Leonard Cohen's "Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye," and, popping out of nowhere, a stiff new wave workout called "Dirty Robot" featuring Kate Moss on lead vocals. This sense of adventure ties Varshons to those earliest Lemonheads records, but the group marries that spirit to Dando's exceptionally intuitive interpretive skills, turning the album into a bit of a rough, unpolished gem.
The eighth album from the ever-changing line-up of Boston band The Lemonheads (an actual band name seems a bit superfluous, seeing as frontman Evan Dando is the only constant character) is only their second since they reformed in 2005, after a six-year hiatus. A collection of eleven cover versions is not exactly challenging, but perhaps [...]
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This is no standards collection, and Dando isn't singing the hits. Varshons is instead a sort of late-career triumph for the Lemonheads.
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The Lemonheads' versions of Susanne Vega's 'Luka', Mike Nesmith's 'Different Drum' and Simon and Garfunkel's 'Mrs Robinson' were undisputed classics. Varshons in sharp contrast features some well-known and less famous covers that are lacklustre at best and downright embarrassing in places.Among the lacklustre tracks are opener 'I Just Can't Take It Anymore', originally by Gram Parsons. Lemonhe...
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Product DescriptionIt makes sense that the new album from The Lemonheads feels like a cool mix tape slipped to you by a music-obsessed friend anxious to turn you on to something new. VARSHONS was produced by Haynes, mixed by ex-Cornershop guru Anthony Saffrey, and features Dando along with Vess Ruhtenburg (bass) and Devon Ashley (drums). The collection is filled with strange bedfellows - from G...
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A nice Lemonheads take of a Gram Parsons tune, I Can't Take It Anymore..
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Wow, don't call it a comeback, Evan Dando has returned. The Lemonheads have a new covers album Varshons due in June. The first song from this sessions is a brilliantly bare rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye with Liv Tyler on vocals. It's like a duet of two star crossed lovers who are wishing their romance will endure. Evan sounds a little Cohen-esque, not Leonard 2...
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The eighth album from the ever-changing line-up of Boston band The Lemonheads (an actual band name seems a bit superfluous, seeing as frontman Evan Dando is the only constant character) is only their second since they reformed in 2005, after a six-year hiatus. A collection of eleven cover versions is not exactly challenging, but perhaps [...]
More >
The Lemonheads' versions of Susanne Vega's 'Luka', Mike Nesmith's 'Different Drum' and Simon and Garfunkel's 'Mrs Robinson' were undisputed classics. Varshons in sharp contrast features some well-known and less famous covers that are lacklustre at best and downright embarrassing in places.Among the lacklustre tracks are opener 'I Just Can't Take It Anymore', originally by Gram Parsons. Lemonhe...
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The Lemonheads lead-off single from the upcoming covers record, Varshons, features the soft and raspy-voiced actress Liv Tyler helping sing Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye.” We know Tyler’s father is Steven Tyler of Aerosmith-fame, but seriously? It’s a an odd combination to say the least. Varshons, due out June 23, also includes songs by Townes Van Zandt, Wire, Gram
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New album from THE LEMONHEADS will be released June 23rd 2009. The album is titled Varshons and is an album of cover tracks including DIRTY ROBOT originally done by Arling and Cameron. Dirty Robot features vocals by Kate Moss who I think does a pretty good job. Also covered is the Christina Aguilera track Beautiful and many more. DIRTY ROBOT (DOWNLOAD)
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So far, The Lemonheads have released eight studio albums. The bands last, self-titled record came out in 2006, a full decade after the album previous to that, 1996's Car Button Cloth and now, in 2009, we can expect something a little different.
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This is no standards collection, and Dando isn't singing the hits. Varshons is instead a sort of late-career triumph for the Lemonheads.
More >
The Lemonheads /// "Beautiful" /// VarshonsThe Lemonheads, always one self-loathing chord away from the next nasty breakup, borrow from rock royalty on their new all-covers album. There's a pale, ringing take on Leonard Cohen's "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye," with an assist from Liv Tyler. There's a smoothly strummed version of Wire's "Fragile." And then there's that altogether differen...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 I Just Can't Take It Anymore |
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| 2 Fragile |
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| 3 Layin' Up with Linda |
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| 4 Waiting Around to Die |
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| 5 The Green Fuz |
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| 6 Yesterlove |
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| 7 Dirty Robot |
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| 8 Dandelion Seeds |
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| 9 New Mexico |
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| 10 Hey, Thats No Way to Say Goodbye |
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| 11 Beautiful |
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 "Varshons")
