The Lemonheads : Love Chant
Who could have predicted that 2025 would be the year of Evan Dando? An improbable feel-good comeback if there ever was one—Dando himself didn’t think he’d have survived this long—the Lemonheads frontman and 1990s alt-rock/grunge heart throb is still alive, mostly well and on a major hot streak. Earlier this month, Dando finally dropped his long-anticipated drugs, sex and indie rock ‘n’ roll memoir Rumors Of My Demise. Co-written by punk rock authority Jim Ruland, it’s a highly recommended and juicy tell-all. Now, his banner year continues with the release of the first new Lemonheads album of all-original material since 2006, Love Chant. And much like Rumors Of My Demise, it lives up to the hype.
Love Chant might come with the obligatory critic’s go-to term, “return to form.” The truth is, Dando never really lost his touch. The last two Lemonheads’ full-lengths (2009’s Varshons and ‘19’s sequel, Varshons 2) were delightful all-cover grab bags which found Dando raiding his record collection and taking on tunes from Yo La Tengo, Paul Westerberg and Eagles, amongst other of his favorites. Then there’s the self-titled full-length from nearly two decades ago that was the last Lemonheads album proper backed by the rhythm section of punk rock legends, the Descendents. It’s chock full of crunchy Dando rockers and a record that remains underrated and overlooked.
Love Chant arrives in what feels like an eternity later and finds Dando picking up where he left–only older, wiser, more grizzled and his pipes significantly more greasy but still clearly an ace cranker of hook-filled gems. Like his pal J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., Dando dons the badge of elder-statesman of indie rock; he’s just taken a bumpier path to get there.
It’s difficult to separate Love Chant from Rumors Of My Demise (and vice-versa); the book and record ostensible companion pieces. The bulk of Love Chant—its naked wordplay, wide variety of influences and presence of longtime friendships—mirrors the autobiographical sensibilities of his memoir, an intimate look into Dando’s carefree and tortured soul. That all might sound like Dando has grown up at 58 years old and made a mature, adult record but rest assured, Love Chant’s 11 songs are quintessentially Lemonheads, jam-packed with all of the instantly recognizable and unmistakable hallmarks that have defined Dando’s songcraft, despite a once sugary sweet voice that’s morphed into a ragged baritone.
Still, it’s all earwormy glory from the get-go, kicking off with “58 Second Song,” which isn’t 58 seconds long but three-and-a-half minutes of chugging and bright euphonious jangle that immediately sets the tone for the pure infectiousness that runs through Love Chant. The one-two power-pop punch perfection of “Deep End” (featuring a typically blistering, epic solo from Mascis and dreamy backing vocals from Juliana Hatfield) and “In The Margin” is as catchy as anything on the classic It’s a Shame About Ray. “Cell Phone Blues” (also with a Hatfield guest turn) is a twangy, hard-charging number complete with a fun and loose hardcore-lite breakdown. “Togetherness Is All I’m After” (featuring ex-Blake Babies and Lemonheads’ John Strohm on guitar) channels the top-down stoner slow-burn of 1970’s-era Neil Young. Dando isn’t short on doses of eclecticism either—there’s heady trips into psychedelia on “Roky” (his ode to late great psych-rock pioneer Roky Erickson), “Marauders” and the title track.
For a perennial fuck-up with an epically checkered past (do read the awesomely-titled Rumors Of My Demise for the full story on that), Dando’s resurgence is complete as a newly minted author and with Love Chant, which reaffirms his place as one of the premier punk tunesmiths of his generation.
Label: Fire
Year: 2025
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The Lemonheads : Love Chant
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