Car Button Cloth - All Of These Things Sanr. - The Lemonheads / Atlantic Audio CD 1996 / 7567-92726-2

UPC 075679272621

Car Button Cloth is the seventh studio album by the Lemonheads, and the last under their contract with Atlantic Records. The band, as it were, consisted mostly of Dando himself playing many instruments, including his usual guitars and lead vocals, and Patrick Murphy on drums, along with a series of session musicians and producer Bryce Goggin filling in on other instruments. Following the recording of the album, Bill Gibson, who had played bass on several tracks, joined the band for the supporting tour along with Dando and Murphy.

Despite receiving lukewarm reviews and not being as commercially successful as the Lemonheads' previous two albums, It's a Shame About Ray and Come On Feel the Lemonheads, Car Button Cloth has gained a minor cult following in recent years. The tracks "It's All True," "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You" (cowritten by Eugene Kelly of the Vaselines), and "The Outdoor Type" were released as singles in the UK. "Purple Parallelogram," a song written by Dando and Oasis's Noel Gallagher, was originally included on promotional copies of Car Button Cloth between "Something's Missing" and "Knoxville Girl," but was reportedly removed at Gallagher's request. The album would be the last studio release from The Lemonheads for a decade, when they released a long-awaited self-titled follow-up, while in the meantime the group's frontman and sole remaining original member, Evan Dando, issued his first official solo album, 2003's Baby I'm Bored (a live album and EP were released in Australia two years earlier).

Despite his rise from indie punk-popster to high-profile alt-pop heartthrob, Lemonheads leader Evan Dando is still capable of making charmingly goofy, memorably melodic records, and this is one of them. Though it's a bit light on obvious hookfests, Car Button Cloth maintains a low-key, whispery bittersweetness that's both likable and poignant. And there's a touchingly loopy honesty in the self-effacing resoluteness of such tunes as "The Outdoor Type," "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You," and "C'mon Daddy." This charming, deceptively modest effort is a helpful reminder that, as much as Dando tries to hide it, there's a substantial if unfocused talent lurking beneath his flaky exterior. --Scott Schinder

• Evan Dando – bass, guitar, percussion, piano, drums on track 12, vocals, moog synthesizer, design, illustrations
• Darrin Ehardt – design
• Bill Gibson – bass, guitar, background vocals
• Rich Gilbert – pedal steel
• Bryce Goggin – organ, vocals, moog synthesizer, producer, engineer, mixing
• Scott Hull – mastering
• Sue Kapa – assistant engineer, photography
• Royston Langdon – bass, piano
• Erich Drew Luening – whistle
• Kenny Lyon – guitar, clapping
• Paul Marconi – mixing assistant
• Patrick Murphy – drums except track 12
• Dina Waxman – bass