Sound: After a ten-year absence, a long period of fighting personal demons and one solo album in 2003's 'Baby I'm Bored', Evan Dando is sensibly trading under his band name once again. Surprisingly, though, the self-titled album is a shift away from the bittersweet country pop of their most famous work, and more a combination of the hard college rock of their 1980s output fused with a more contemporary, furious sound that should sound great live. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: Dando remains criminally under-rated as a songwriter and is, without a doubt, one of the finest lyricists the music world has ever seen. Who could critique such lovely songs as 'Become the Enemy' and 'Rule Of Three'? One of the finest lyrics comes in the co-write with Tom Morgan on the otherwise ho-hum 'Baby's Home', in which Dando drawls 'when a horse breaks his leg, they say it's best to shoot it, cos it's quick and it eases the pain / but when a marriage is dying tell me who dos the firing / and who says who's to blame?'. The epic thrash of 'Let's Just Laugh' also easily rivals his former high-water mark of 1992's 'It's A Shame About Ray'. // 10
Impression: 'The Lemonheads' is surprisingly brawny but overall a very durable album, most of the tracks being short and snappy. The finest moment, 'No Backbone', sees Dando writing some of his finest vignettes on life and love and Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis adds typically peerless solos throughout. Dando hasn't been this alive and dextrous on the guitar in years, and from the bouncy 'Poughkeepsie' to the yearning 'Steve's Boy', the album is a real comeback. Just don't mention 'Mrs Robinson'... // 9
