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—andmoreagain presents—The Lemonheads
w/ Fancy Gap
doors 7:30pm // show 8:30pm
$35 adv // $40 day of show
Tickets available Friday, September 18th: https://found.ee/andTheLemonheads
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THE LEMONHEADS
The Lemonheads return in 2025 with Love Chant (out via Fire Records, October 24th), their first studio album in nearly two decades - a bold, melodic reaffirmation of Evan Dando’s singular songwriting voice. Written across continents and recorded primarily in São Paulo, Brazil, where Dando now resides, Love Chant finds the frontman reconnecting with longtime collaborators while introducing new creative voices. It’s a record of fresh starts and familiar sounds - emotionally raw, melodically rich, and unmistakably Lemonheads.
The new album features contributions from J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr), Juliana Hatfield, Tom Morgan, Bryce Goggin, Erin Rae, and Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond. It’s a diverse but coherent work - from the full-throttle hooks of “Deep End” to the spectral softness of “The Key Of Victory,” and the Modern Lovers-like drive of the title track. Co-released alongside Dando’s forthcoming memoir Rumours Of My Demise (via Faber, November 6th), Love Chant marks both a return and a reckoning - the sound of an artist who’s lived, lost, and located the thread once again.
Formed in Boston in 1986, The Lemonheads have long thrived on that intersection between chaos and charm. With a revolving cast built around Dando’s melodic instincts and ragged charisma, their early punk roots were forged across three scrappy albums on local label Taang! before signing to Atlantic Records and releasing 1990’s Lovey. It was on tour for that record in Australia where Dando connected with Tom Morgan and future bandmate Nic Dalton - a meeting that reshaped the band’s songwriting and sound.
Their commercial breakthrough came with 1992’s It’s A Shame About Ray and 1993’s Come On Feel The Lemonheads, both records that married punk energy with melodic pop, and established Dando as one of alternative rock’s most compelling figures. National TV appearances followed, and so did the tabloid glare - by the late ’90s, the music sometimes took a backseat to Dando’s unpredictable, chaotic public persona. He disbanded The Lemonheads in 1997 following a turbulent performance at Reading Festival.
In 2003, he released his acclaimed solo album Baby I’m Bored - quieter and more introspective, it hinted at a new phase. But it wasn’t long before The Lemonheads were reborn. In 2006, a self-titled album marked a head-on collision of wordy ’70s punk and cosmic country, followed by Varshons (2009) and Varshons 2 (2019), two mixtape-like collections of cover versions that spanned Townes Van Zandt to GG Allin, Leonard Cohen to The Bevis Frond - always with the same emotional clarity and melodic magnetism that defines Dando’s output.
Over the years, The Lemonheads’ shape has shifted - Descendents, Dinosaur Jr, Blake Babies and members of Fuzzy have all passed through the ranks - but at its core has always been Dando’s songwriting: wry, vulnerable, catchy, and true. With Love Chant, that core burns brightly once more.
Recent years have only deepened the band’s influence. Artists like Courtney Barnett, Waxahatchee, Phoebe Bridgers and MJ Lenderman cite The Lemonheads as touchstones, covering their songs and praising their emotional candor and melodic economy.
As Record Collector noted, “The Lemonheads have always been recognised as purveyors of grade-A pop punk.” Or, in Rolling Stone’s words: “Few bands have been able to walk the line between the angst of grunge and the warmth of folk quite as elegantly as The Lemonheads.”
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FANCY GAP
On their self-titled debut album, Fancy Gap–the duo of singer/songwriter Stuart McLamb (The Love Language) and songwriter/producer Charles Crossingham–takes listeners on a journey that steers through life’s melodies with windows down. It’s a country-tinged, radio-ready sound, yet delves deep into universal themes. From stirring reflections on death and aging to the joyous celebrations of life, love, and triumph, every track on Fancy Gap captures different facets of the human experience. With a twang evoking the heartland and a widescreen perspective hinting at something greater, McLamb and Crossingham explore poignant moments of laughter and loss, enduring bonds of friendship, and the ups and downs of relationships.
McLamb has always been a heart-on-his-sleeve songwriter–one that’s also a traveler, tourer, hand-holder, relationship whisperer, and chronicler of beginnings and endings–and the bittersweetness that courses through The Love Language’s four albums is a voyage worth all the heartbreak. As he began working on the band’s fifth album in early 2020, McLamb took some early demos to Crossingham, whom he had known for nearly a decade but became closer with after moving back to Raleigh, North Carolina, that March. The pandemic struck in the midst of feeling out those early ideas; the two sheltered in Crossingham’s mountain cabin in Fancy Gap, Virginia, and questions of what life would look like when the world started over seeped into their late-night songwriting sessions. What began as a producer/artist collaboration blossomed into a close-knit co-writing project, rooted in Crossingham’s inspired belief and admiration in McLamb’s talents, and the musical kinship that the two had forged.
As the tracks were fleshed out, a collective idea of song and place became entwined in how the two wanted these compositions to sound and feel. “Charles and I wanted to make an album that sounded like the music we wanted to hear. It just so happens that at the time we were listening to a lot of classic '90s radio rock and a lot of classic country radio 98.1 WBRF out of Galax, VA,” McLamb explains. Fancy Gap was born. “Over the next two years,” he adds. "We hustled through odd jobs to keep our heads above water while dedicating ourselves to crafting the best songs we could.” The music took shape during recording sessions at the cabin, as well as impromptu jam sessions where Crossingham played guitar and McLamb handled drums and vocals. "The lockdown had us feeling cooped up, so we just let loose and rocked out. Making music with a friend like that was a blast—it took me back to the early days of jamming in my parents' garage with my younger brother," McLamb recalls fondly. They would then refine their best ideas at the Fancy Gap cabin, utilizing a portable rack unit of Quad Eight preamps. "Many of the lead vocals were captured in the moment, often on the first or second take," he says.
Reaching out to fellow artists and musicians became a priority as their excitement around the music continued to grow, and also felt like the thread to sew together the fabric of life after lockdown. “During the pandemic, we–and a lot of our artist friends who were struggling–needed a belief that there would be a light at the end of this,” Crossingham explained. “As the songs began to come together, we wanted to open our tent, and ask some of those friends and artists we respected to be a part of Fancy Gap with us.” As such, the album features masterful contributions from Sharon Van Etten (vocals on “Strawberry Moon”); Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara (vocals on “Filthy Habits”); Rami Jaffee (The Foo Fighters, The Wallflowers) on the Hammond B3 organ and Wurlitzer; acclaimed session guitarist Will McFarlane (Bonnie Raitt, The Mountain Goats, Etta James); and Jon Graboff on pedal steel ( Willie Nelson, Noel Gallagher, M. Ward, Norah Jones). Fancy Gap was finalized over five sessions with Grammy-award-winning engineer Craig Alvin (‘Album of the Year’ Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour), who mixed the album at Noble Steed Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
As McLamb’s timeless voice leads the way–all classic pop timbre and heart swells, casting notes toward the sky–the songs explore love found (“Little Heart Racer”) and love lost (“Diamond Cutter”), the passing of loved ones (“Magnolias”), and hazy dreams and addictions of all kinds (“Old Ways”). The album pulses with a front porch phrasing and tempos that echoes the mountain locale of its recording; “How to Dance” and “Little Heart Racer” swing with a breezy roadhouse exuberance countered by the sweet melancholy of “Strawberry Moon.” Throughout, Fancy Gap also finds McLamb and Crossingham conjuring the pop leanings of early Counting Crows and The Lemonheads (“Filthy Habits”), the chordal phrasing and harmonies of Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills & Nash (“Whispering Winds”), the stadium-sized sing-along choruses of The Wallflowers (“40,000 Miles”), and the expansive western terrains akin to a more psychedelic Marty Robbins (“Diamond Cutter”).
Fancy Gap, for all the genuine emotional resonance it hits lyrically, feels like a hands-in-the-breeze springtime ride at dusk, with a treasure trove of your favorite albums under your seat and nothing in front of you but gravel roads and wistful speed. It’s a musical expedition that transcends the sum of its parts, painting sonic landscapes that linger in the heart and soul. – Roy Bourne, April 2024
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Event venue
Motorco, 723 Rigsbee Ave,Durham,NC,United States
Tickets
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