Our Critics Picks

Evan Dando—The Lemonheads’ pouty, aggravatingly photogenic singer and only constant member—suffers a strange curse. Not a lack of attention or talent, certainly, nor the classic dilemma of wrong place, wrong time. Dando’s plight in 2006 was more dire: his early celebrity as alt-rock’s consummate cover boy made him such a bright star that it created a kind of flash blindness. Back when he was punking Simon and Garfunkel, we saw so much of him that today he’s all but invisible. But Dando is back with a new lineup and a new record, The Lemonheads. Opener “Black Gown” is a nonsensical if inoffensive banger, so effortless Dando might well have written it on the john; the record that follows is as catchy and unabashedly shtick-free as anything released last year. With the Descendents’ rhythm section, “Become the Enemy” (written by drummer Bill Stevenson) moves to Toto’s “Rosanna” shuffle, while geographical Dando tunes like “Pittsburgh” and “Poughkeepsie” feature balmy hooks to rival the1992 breakout It’sa Shame About Ray. Perhaps the political commentary on “Let’s Just Laugh”—regarding “a Texan stranger with a rope and straight razor . . . getting impatient for something major”—proves that these guys don’t have Crossfire chops. (For better or for worse, that tune is this century’s “Big Gay Heart.”) But Dando nonetheless emerges from Lemonheads as a power-pop elder statesman and a suddenly appropriate Paul Westerberg labelmate. But can these new Lemonheads deliver? On “Steve’s Boy,” one of the record’s most cleverly crafted tunes (it’s also a Stevenson tune, oddly enough), an appropriately disillusioned punk underdog admits to his dad that he knows he “can’t make you love me,” but he’s quick to back it up with a promise: “I can’t make you well / I can’t make you love me / But I’m not leaving here without you.” The chorus is so sweet that you can’t help but want him to stay. Exit/In —NATE CAVALIERI

MUSIC

Evan Dando—The Lemonheads’ pouty, aggravatingly photogenic singer and only constant member—suffers a strange curse. Not a lack of attention or talent, certainly, nor the classic dilemma of wrong place, wrong time. Dando’s plight in 2006 was more dire: his early celebrity as alt-rock’s consummate cover boy made him such a bright star that it created a kind of flash blindness. Back when he was punking Simon and Garfunkel, we saw so much of him that today he’s all but invisible. But Dando is back with a new lineup and a new record, The Lemonheads. Opener “Black Gown” is a nonsensical if inoffensive banger, so effortless Dando might well have written it on the john; the record that follows is as catchy and unabashedly shtick-free as anything released last year. With the Descendents’ rhythm section, “Become the Enemy” (written by drummer Bill Stevenson) moves to Toto’s “Rosanna” shuffle, while geographical Dando tunes like “Pittsburgh” and “Poughkeepsie” feature balmy hooks to rival the1992 breakout It’sa Shame About Ray. Perhaps the political commentary on “Let’s Just Laugh”—regarding “a Texan stranger with a rope and straight razor . . . getting impatient for something major”—proves that these guys don’t have Crossfire chops. (For better or for worse, that tune is this century’s “Big Gay Heart.”) But Dando nonetheless emerges from Lemonheads as a power-pop elder statesman and a suddenly appropriate Paul Westerberg labelmate. But can these new Lemonheads deliver? On “Steve’s Boy,” one of the record’s most cleverly crafted tunes (it’s also a Stevenson tune, oddly enough), an appropriately disillusioned punk underdog admits to his dad that he knows he “can’t make you love me,” but he’s quick to back it up with a promise: “I can’t make you well / I can’t make you love me / But I’m not leaving here without you.” The chorus is so sweet that you can’t help but want him to stay. Exit/In —NATE CAVALIERI

MUSIC

FRIDAY, 9TH

DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY Since their somewhat tongue-in-cheek inception in 2003, Murfreesboro’s thrash/power metal combo Destroy Destroy Destroy have shared stages with High on Fire, Mastodon and Darkest Hour. Along the way they’ve attracted a loyal and growing following and signed with label Blackmarket Activities, home of such extreme metal luminaries as The Red Chord and Lamb of God. Devour thePower, the band’s first BMA release, weds early thrash with purposely over-the-top power metal that borrows heavily from the melodic approach of Arch Enemy and Children of Bodom. They also have a penchant for all things epic (see song titles “Eternal Voyage of the Geishmal Undead” and “Seduced by the Locrian Temptress”). This band simply has to be seen live to gain a full appreciation. (destroydestroydestroy.com) Springwater —MATT SULLIVAN