We Americans have learned to approach pop music in particular ways.  Most often we search (implicitly) for hooks, choruses, and melodies worthy of whistles and hums.  Other times we hone in on heavy down beats and driving rhythms; the building blocks of hip hop and electronic music.  This enculturation, as it were, strongly occurs through mass media where only a few decades ago it might have occurred primarily around a phonograph in a household.  Now everything has gone corporate – few things are musically sacred in the home.  I was reminded this morning of all of this while channel surfing and landing on VH1.  What three videos did I see (yes, I actually saw videos)?  Lady Gaga ($30 million created artist), Theory of a Deadman (that’s not rock, might as well be on the local pop country station), and Kelly Clarkson (public corporate construct).

When I was a child my siblings had me listen to good records.  Now VH1 gives our children these.

Varshons by The Lemonheads reminds us of another time and place when artists and listeners alike did things differently.  The concept of Varshons is simple: the entire album is track after track of cover songs inspired by the exchange of mix tapes between musicians Evan Dando (The Lemonheads) and Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers).  At a glance, many of the chosen tunes might accurately be described as “obscure.”  The album breaks no new ground, and truth be told, the spirited listener looking for that jolting guitar sound of classic Lemonheads isn’t going to find it here.  In fact, there isn’t a tune on the album that would encourage one to crank the volume knob and cruise 80mph. down the highway.  With few exceptions, the majority aren’t even memorable, and if you’re busy multitasking while listening, the songs won’t pull you away from whatever else you are doing.  Sound grim?  You bet, but that’s because this brief synopsis places Varshons under the ill-tempered, conjunctivited eye that results from that learned approach to pop music previously mentioned.  Let’s contextualize this.

A mix tape is a very personal gift between two people who love music.  The purpose is to share meaning, to introduce a song(s) to someone else that holds special importance to the mixer and perhaps has never been heard by the recipient.  In the old days these mix tapes were typically rough, recorded on crummy boom boxes or similar devices that if nothing else were certain to create great generation loss of sound.  But if the recipient of the mix tape was not turned on to something new, if they didn’t see a method in the hodgepodge of cross-cutting genres exposed on the tape, then failure was owned by the mixer.  One time I received a mix tape from a friend that had a major top 40 hit on it.  My pointed response was “What the ….”?

(Note: the boundaries for mix tape creation have never been cut and dry, and admittedly, these guidelines are my own.)

Varshons is this sort of personal gift from The Lemonheads to you, but taken one step further.  Instead of handing you a tape of a bunch of songs they like, they reproduce them for you, with a little twist of lemon to sweeten things.  Most people 35 years of age and younger (that’s me!) are likely not going to understand Varshons outside this context, because to oversimplify, we’re the MTV/VH1 generation.  If our first experience with Varshons is by radio, singular download, or listening station in a music store, it will almost certainly fail to move us.  But if we first encounter the album through a friend’s stereo system at home or through a writer that casts it in the fond light it deserves, then Varshons might be wholeheartedly embraced.

I could continue on and try to give you a tasteful (tasteless?) run-down of all the tracks on the album, their relative quality, and whether I think they’re actually good or not.  Most album critics do this, and frankly, it’s boring as hell.  But if done with Varshons, it also would defeat the purpose of the album.  You as a listener are supposed to discover this on your own.  Sit down, press play, and pay attention to the album insert and story behind why these songs have met your ears.  Go online and read about the artists whose songs are covered, and find out who they were and why what they did mattered.  It’s not about hooks, choruses, or Max Martin melodies.  It’s about you and The Lemonheads, a listener and an artist(s).

When was the last time Lady Gaga recorded something just for you?

As a postscript, any true lover of The Lemonheads (that’s me, again!) will appreciate Varshons.  For everyone else, there are two teasers off the new album posted on The Lemonheads’ myspace site: “I Just Can’t Take It Anymore” by Gram Parson and “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” by Leonard Cohen.  The second tune features Liv Tyler, daughter of Aerosmith frontman Steve nTyler.  Go have a listen with the knowledge that they are there for you!  Posted below is vintage The Lemonheads.   Enjoy, and see The Lemonheads at the Triple Rock Social Club on June 18.

Varshons Track List

1.  I Just Can’t Take It Anymore (Gram Parsons)
2.  Fragile (Wire)
3.  Layin’ Up With Linda (G.G. Allin)
4.  Waiting Around To Die (Townes Van Zandt)
5.  Green Fuz (Randy Alvey & Green Fuz)
6.  Yesterlove (Sam Gopal)
7.  Dirty Robot v/ Kate Moss (Arling & Cameron)
8.  Dandelion Seeds (July)
9.  Mexico (Fuckemos)
10. Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye f/ Liv Tyler (Leonard Cohen)
11. Beautiful (Linda Perry)

Links

The Lemonheads – Website / Myspace

Purchase Varshons by The Lemonhead on Amazon

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

posted June 1st, 2009 at 2:52 pm Reviews The Lemonheads