The Lemonheads - Love Chant Review
A tender return from The Lemonheads that bridges past and present, Love Chant refines their 90s charm into something wiser, warmer, and quietly triumphant.
There are few bands from the last few decades who have been as quietly influential as the Lemonheads. Artists such as Mj Lenderman, Courtney Barnett and Waxahatchee have all released covers of their songs and cited them as influences. They are a band that toes the line between charming folk and angst-ridden grunge, poppy hooks and bluesy riffs all attached to tongue in cheek lyrics about love and life. In the twenty five years since releasing their last album of original music, the band and particularly frontman Evan Dando have matured, grown and started to become reflective, looking back on lives lived, mistakes made and thinking about what advice to offer the next generation.
What sticks out first about this album is the fact that it is that it feels like it's from a different era of music, at its core it is a 90s rock album, the Lemonheads have retained the style that they cultivated in the 90s, but instead of having it evolve and change, they have refined and sharpened it to a razor’s edge. It feels almost like an homage to a bygone era of rock, but it doesn’t come off as derivative or disingenuous.
There is an abundance of love and respect for both their early work as well as the music of their contemporaries in this album, first made clear in ‘Deep End,’ a song made in collaboration with Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis. The repeating, almost undulating riffs are classic Mascis and the drums are uncomplicated, but tear through the very fabric of the song. This is also where the band’s age and maturity starts to shine through. The lyrical tone of the album is actually quite dark all things considered, the band is older, they have seen more and gained perspective on their lives and it comes through in ‘Deep End’ which is a song about addiction and recovery. While addiction is very often a theme in music and especially 90s rock, the recovery aspect is something that is touched upon far less frequently and it is interesting to see how it is incorporated into the song. It contributes to the more mature, refined feeling of the album.
That being said, it is still bursting with youthful joie de vivre. Dando manages to maintain the folksy college rock and soft grunge vibes of his early work while shifting the tone of his lyrics to more mature, existential themes. The best example of this is ‘Wild Thing’ which sounds at first like a classic 90s rock anthem, but Dando’s deeper vocal cadence combined with the heavier guitar tone creates a slightly darker feeling throughout the song, granting it a more wizened, cynical edge. This continues in ‘Be In’ which is one of the heaviest songs on the album that makes use of its more simplistic but catchy bass riffs and powerful, but relatively slow drumming to draw attention to both Dando’s voice, which is nearly a whisper, quietly pleading, and the nearly distressing lyrics to create perhaps the most powerful song in the album.
The intensity of those last two songs are alleviated wonderfully but ‘Cellphone Blues,’ a folk rock track that drips with bluesy joy from its clean toned guitar full of blues licks to its crisp drumming. Even the lyrics aren’t quite as dark as some of the album’s other songs. The song is catchy, upbeat and fun, perhaps the song in the album you could dance to most easily. The backing vocals by Juliana Hatfield are a welcome addition as she harmonises seamlessly with Dando, they are however a little understated in the mix, which is consistent throughout the album and largely quite good, however the use Lo-Fi production does mean that it can at points feel a little flat. This is most evident during the album’s titular song: ‘Love Chant’ which feels rather rushed and while the mixing does not help, it is also let down by its simplistic lyrical composition which throttles the instrumental section’s ability to do anything especially interesting.
The standout song on the album is unquestionably ‘Togetherness is all I’m after’ with its heavy opening riffs and pounding drums that transitions gracefully, but quickly into a slower, more melodic number that wraps you in a warm blanket of soft, grungy blues rock. It is another song about the passage of time, a wistful look back while offering advice to the next generation. The guitar almost weeps during the solo, accentuating the sad, almost regretful tone of the song. Lyrically speaking, this is also the best written song on an album full of well written songs, it compassionately offers advice while bemoaning past mistakes and looking back on a life lived, placing a little more substance and credibility behind said Dando’s words of wisdom.
This album is an utter delight, it pays homage to 90s rock while maintaining its original essence, the lyrics are well written and each member of the band does their part to a tee, at no point does one instrument overwhelm or dominate and while the Lo-Fi production does make it feel a little flat at points, it adds some indie charm to the album and serves as a reminder of its roots and collaboration with generational talents such as J Mascis is really just the cherry on top. Perhaps the most wonderful thing about this album is that you can feel that it has been inspired and influenced by contemporary work that was influenced by The Lemonheads earlier work, take for example, MJ Lenderman, to create a sensational melding of both past and present, new and old rock, made for both newer, younger rock fans and those who have been around for a little while longer.