By Jake Shenker
Some weeks it’s hard to find time to pore over new releases — I have a day job, you know.
Here’s what’s new this week:
The Leamonheads — Varshons (The End)
What, you don’t care about the Lemonheads? If nothing else, they get my accolades for their awesome 90s version of “Mrs. Robinson” (think Wayne’s World 2), but frontman Evan Dando is in fact a pretty excellent songwriter. Of course, his writing doesn’t shine on Varshons, an entire album of cover tunes. Dando and company continue the great work they did in the 90s with smart covers of some obscure, some well know, and some hilarious tunes. Among them: a driving folk rendition of Gram Parsons’ “I Just Can’t Take it Anymore,” a melancholy arrangement of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” and a country-western version of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.” Pretty hip stuff.
Pete Yorn — Back and Fourth (Columbia)
Keeping with the folk-country vibe of the Lemonheads, Pete Yorn’s newest effort is sparse, beautiful, and fucking boring. Let’s face it, he did his best. He’s just not that good a songwriter. Still, Back and Fourth isn’t a complete loss: if you have trouble sleeping, this record might send you off into dreamland. I’m much more excited about Yorn’s upcoming album with Scarlett Johansson, but, to be honest, I just want to open the CD and ogle the pictures in the liner notes. Bottom line: skip this album, Google photos of Scarlett.
