Come On Feel The Lemonheads

I assume mass appreciation for The Lemonheads came by virtue of the fact that lead singer Evan Dando would look good unclogging a toilet. But The Lemonheads were hotter than just Dando: they were hot, like, holistically. They’re funny, in a way that’s like Harry Nilsson or the best cuts from Hank Williams Jr.; they can be jangly and candied, like Australian pop of the mid-’90s; they can be dippy, like all great lugs of pre-Y2K alt rock. They were empathetic, too: “Big Gay Heart” is one of the greatest songs ever written, I think, and it’s an honest-to-god outlaw lament from one spurned trucker lover to his emotionally abusive trucker beloved. It’s the saddest song with the phrase “suck my dick” in it, and it’s done totally without irony, pretense, or heavy-handedness. What I admire about the Lemonheads is that they did it all not just in the spirit of being beautiful, but because they were capable of full, rich belief in beauty.