Squeeze the Lemonheads

Sept. 27, 2006

The newly reformed Lemonheads - yes, complete with lead singer/ragamuffin Evan Dando - are getting set to release their first new studio album in over 10 years.  Titled simply The Lemonheads, the album is being released by Vagrant Records, and should hit stores on September 26.  In addition to foundation member Dando, the band now also includes bass player Karl Alvarez and drummer Bill Stevenson (both of The Descendants), plus additional contributions from Dinosaur Jr.  The new band formation will be touring, too, with dates beginning November 18 in Santa Ana, California, and continuing through mid-December, including stops in Los Angeles (11/21 and 11/22), Seattle (11/28), Minneapolis (12/5), Chicago (12/7 and 12/8), and Detroit (12/10 at The Magic Stick)...
 
The Killers have scored big for their latest video, managing to get the likes of director Tim Burton to direct the upcoming clip for their single “Bones.”  The clip will mark Burton’s first as a music-video director (you’ll likely remember him from such other little movies as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Batman Returns, and Planet of the Apes). To craft the clip, Burton initially shot a live performance of The Killers in mid August, and he’s reportedly now at work in London with a team of animators creating an entire town and cast of characters - including skeletons, of course - to go with;  a lot of the sets are said to be based on historic Las Vegas, which is, of course, The Killers hometown....

A Bob Dylan tribute concert will be taking place in New York City later this fall, specifically at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall on November 9. Set to raise money for charity musicforyouth.org, the event will include live performances from a plethora of both Dylan contemporaries and more pop-of-today performers, including Patti Smith, Ryan Adams, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Seal, Rosanne Cash, Natalie Merchant, Philip Glass, and Bob Mould, among others;  Dylan himself just released his first album in five years, which he appropriately dubbed Modern Times...

Just released this week is the compila-tion disc BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, which includes both some pretty great performances by bands and solo artists of their own material as well as several interesting cover versions. Razorlight, Editors, Oasis, Damien Rice, Basement Jaxx, and The Bravery all turn in renditions of their own songs done with a little extra BBC flair (“Golden Touch,” “All Sparks,” “Songbird,” “Cannonball,” “Romeo,” and “An Honest Mistake,” respectively), and a couple of performers turn in those quirky covers, including Sugababes, who cover Hard-Fi’s “Living for the Weekend,” and the incongruous but successful pairing of Franz Ferdinand covering Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For”...
 
MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:  They’re being regularly compared to The Clash, right down to their street-level, working class vibe and their West London origins.  Do you agree?  Check out Hard-Fi’s “Better Do Better” video, available now exclusively on NME’s online site at http://www.nme.com/artists/hard-fi/media/159...

MINI BUZZ:
Gwen Stefani is releasing a series of 8 limited-edition dolls themed to go with her debut solo album, Love, Angel, Music, Baby.  Each doll will represent Stefani or one of her Harajuku Girl backup dancers dressed in costumes from Stefani’s tour...
In other doll news, a (cough cough) Kurt Cobain action figure is being released, too - inspired by Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged appearance, the figure will include accessories such as Cobain’s acoustic guitar, a music stand, and a microphone...
And speaking of Cobain, he and his band are being paid tribute to in another odd way - by symphonic pop group The Polyphonic Spree, who cover Nirvana’s “Lithium” on their stopgap five-song EP Wait, which was just released last week...
Rapper Talib Kweli’s next solo album, Ear Drum, is now due out later this year, and will feature contributions from Raheem DeVaughn and Kweli’s rhyming partner Hi-Tek, among others...
Danish modern rockers The Figurines, still promoting their 2006 debut disc, Skeleton, will head over to the U.S. in October for a busy schedule of North American live dates...
And Athens, Georgia band The Whigs will also be taking their indie-garage-rock on the road in support of their debut disc, Give ‘Em All A Big Fat Lip, which will hit stores this week...
 
Also arriving in stores now are this week’s new releases... ON CD:  Kasabian’s Empire... Basement Jaxx’s Crazy Itch Radio... The Mars Volta’s Amputecture... Electronic’s Get the Message...  Elton John’s The Captain and the Kid... and the Black Keys’ Magic Potion... ON DVD:  U2’s Zoo TV: Live from Sydney... Johnny Cash in Concert... The Police - Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out... and Get Ready: Definitive Performances 1965-1972 - The Temptations... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
 
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your fave musicians?  Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com