Following the success of previous albums, 1992’s “It’s A Shame About Ray” and 1993’s “Come on Feel The Lemonheads”, “Car Button Cloth” saw a shift to a darker sound, one more reflective lead singer Evan Dando’s struggles in this period. Whilst much of the power-pop that saw the band garner that initial success is still present, there is a noticeable shift in Dando’s song writing, particularly on tracks such as ‘Losing My Mind’ and ‘One More Time’. The album would be the band’s last studio album for almost ten years and has gained something of a cult following in the years since its initial release.
Lemonheads leader Evan Dando the man is just such a talented tunesmith. Just as you shouldn’t have been fooled by an overreaching, inane record company that marketed him for the teenyboppers as an “alterna-hunk” , nor should anyone dismiss him just because his LPs always have a few outright duds on them like “Secular Rockulidge” , making it seem that he writes too off-the-cuff or is too easily pleased. Nor should you write him off because his lyrics still stray into the sublimely idiotic “Khmer Rouge, Genocide qua” is not clever,
All the more so in the middle of the near-perfect pop single “If I Could Talk I’d Tell You.”. And on the other side of the coin, I could rave about how “Car Button Cloth” is such a mature work, more scattershot but ultimately more satisfying than the well-venerated “It’s a Shame About Ray” and better thought out than the up-and-down, spastic “C’mon Feel The Lemonheads“. The important things are the hooks, which are plentiful and often instantly timeless, and Dando’s voice, which becomes more convincing, sensitive, throaty, introspective, humble, and edgy each time out. And the overall attitude, which is loose but dripping with sincerity, earnestness, and real feeling. Sure, Dando’s got the goods, and songs such as “It’s All True” and “Break Me” are the sort that a million bands would work years at 7-11 to call their own. It almost seems unfair; he’s written so many great ones this decade.
But just as importantly, Dando has perfected the art of just being himself, without pretension, and it’s a hell of a lot more honest and real and enjoyable than a truck load of overhyped, super-hip, underground product this year that, though far more high-brow, is ultimately tight-assed, calculating, suffocating, and worthless in comparison. I’d rather go where the real fun is, and it’s here. Previously reissued as a 2CD set by Edsel in 2013 (with 15 bonus tracks), this new deluxe edition is vinyl only, with the 2LP sets offering 13 bonus tracks on LP 2. The only extra track not on the 2013 2CD deluxe is the unreleased ‘Arise’ which was later reworked into ‘Rancho Santa Fe’ on Dando’s first solo album.
The Lemonheads’ 1996 album, ‘Car Button Cloth’, will be reissued as a 2LP set with bonus tracks early next year in a deluxe cloth-bound gatefold sleeve, “Car Button Cloth” was the band’s seventh studio album, and their last with Atlantic Records.
The first three songs alone are like love at first hearing for this album.
The Fat Angel Sings 