Led by Evan Dando, The Lemonheads moved their early sound of Hüsker-Dü influenced punk rock towards catchy, lo-fi rock full of pop sensibilities, also displaying Dando's love of country-rock in its tone. They have become cult figures in the world of alternative rock, building a loyal following of fans, alongside respect from fellow illuminates like Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis.
In the late 80s, The Lemonheads released a number of recordings on various independent labels, focussing on a hardcore punk sound but didn't gain any substantial success outside of their cult following. It was after joining Atlantic Records in 1990 that the band were to find widespread acclaim, through their album, "Lovey," a more melodic and dynamic record than what had come previously. This was followed by 1992's "It's a Shame About Ray," their breakthrough album, which gained significant momentum through their cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson," with the Lemonheads being tipped for big things following its release. Dando had become a minor celebrity after this success, with his personal life and battle with drug addiction becoming widely publicised.
After recovering from addiction, "Car Button Cloth" was released in 1995, featuring a new lineup, including former members of Dinosaur Jr. The album received mixed reviews and the band were unable to generate the success they had with previous efforts, which led to an indefinite hiatus.
However, Dando reunited The Lemonheads, releasing their self-titled album in 2005, which reignited enthusiasm for the band. The Lemonheads embarked on several tours following this, finding a resurgence of popularity in the music world. In 2009, they released "Varshons" an album of covers including tracks by Gram Parsons, Wire, Christina Aguilera and GG Allin, which was released to positive critical acclaim.
Born in Tarrytown, New York, Willy Mason moved to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts with his family at the age of five. During his high school education Mason was a member of a number of bands including Keep Thinking, Cultivation and Slow Leslie, and participated in his school’s Minnesingers group and musical theatre productions. With the folk influences of his parent’s record collection and his teenage years’ proclivity towards Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana, Mason crafts a folky, socially-aware/revolution-in-the-air sound.
By sheer coincidence, during an appearance on a family friend’s local radio show, a Bright Eyes associate Sean Foley heard the singer-songwriter, and left his number with the station for Mason to contact. The song Mason played was entitled “Oxygen” and led to Mason and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst collaborating and touring together. As chance would have it when Mason played “Oxygen” again to an audience of three at South By Southwest festival, one of those members was BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe. The DJ then played it to a British audience and exposed the singer’s often raw delivery and socially-conscious message to a huge audience.
Ahead of his full-length debut Mason released two EPs, one untitled and one named “Hard Hand to Hold”. The singer-songwriter’s debut album, “Where the Humans Eat”, recorded at just 19 years of age, was issued in 2005, and peaked at No. 38 on the UK Albums chart. Due to the success Mason played a host of UK and U.S. festivals including Glastonbury Festival, before taking time off to return home and form a backing band. After releasing the subsequent EPs “Hard to Lie Down” in 2005 and “Scraps” in 2006, Willy Mason toured in support of the respected acts Beth Orton, Death Cab for Cutie, Radiohead and Sondre Lerche.
Mason’s sophomore album arrived in 2007 entitled “If the Ocean Gets Rough” to positive reviews, and peaked at No. 33 on the UK Albums chart. After contributing lyrics to The Chemical Brothers’ “We Are the Night” album, and a song to “Radio Waves, Vol. 1” – a Martha’s Vineyard compilation album – Mason performed at the 2007 Austin City Limits festival. The stresses of being a touring musician began to take their toll and Mason appeared rarely until 2011 where he embarked on a small venue tour of the UK and recorded a session at Manchester’s The Sharp Project.
The critically acclaimed singer-songwriter’s third studio album “Carry On” was issued in 2012 on Fiction Records. It was produced by Dan Carey and was supported by a sold-out tour of the UK, as well as a tour of Australia alongside Mumford and Sons and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes.
Seeing The Lemonheads live will take you back to a place in time where ripped, faded jeans were in style and music about youthful angst and the slacker’s boredom filled the airwaves of the college radio station.
Although some of The Lemonheads’ songs might harp on the topic of teenage boredom, they are far from boring live. The band rolls through their setlist at a rapid pace, playing through hit after hit. This intense speed of performance allows them to cram in all our favorite tunes into the setlist.
Main songwriter and lead singer, Evan Dando, still performs his classic grungey, alternative rock music we love so much with the same amount of vigor he always has. The band’s performance is usually simple and straight forward, using very little theatrics, but their strong-suit is their catchy songwriting, and any additive substance of theatrics would take away from their raw, sincere performance. The music always has an energetic feel with Dando’s ever changing chord progressions and blaring guitar solos. The setlist spans across their whole career, but after having celebrated their 20th anniversary of the critically acclaimed album, It’s a Shame About Ray, they have been recently including a larger selection from this hit record.
The band’s short and sweet style of performing is what makes them so great. They have a direct way of performing their music and they don’t need superfluous instrumentation or theatrics to get their energy across. You can expect to have a great time rocking out to classics such as “My Drug Buddy” or you might even here the unique, fast-paced rendition of “Mrs. Robinson”.
wjmcc
Singer-songwriter Willy Mason has always intrigued me. Appearance wise, especially in the press, he has always appeared this super shy, reluctant folk star, reminding me a little of Nick Drake (or at least what I’ve read about him…endlessly). The fact that there was a five year gap between his second and third studio albums (between 2007 and 2012) only seemed to validate that perception. His debut album, Where the Humans Eat, was one of my favourite albums released in 2004. The whole acoustic singer-songwriter thing has started to become oversaturated (and seems to have remained that way ever since), but Mason offered something deeper and way more interesting than what I was used to. His deep, odd voice struck a chord with me and his simple but off-kilter guitar playing was captivating.
I never got to see him live during the early years of his career, but did manage to last year at Glastonbury. His confidence has definitely grown but that young, introspective musician is still very much present. Seeing and hearing songs like ‘Hand Hand To Hold’ and ‘Oxygen’ live, the latter played sublimely, truly was a joy. Backed by a full band for much of the set, his bluesy country meanderings sounded grand in a festival setting, but I will always cherish his acoustic solo numbers.
cliverozario
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