Love Chant＜限定盤/White Vinyl＞

Evan Dando always found his songs by way of unconventional paths. Even some of the Lemonheads’ most straightforward pop moments had something a little bit askew about them, be it an awkward or inadvisable lyric, a randomized key change, or a runtime that seemed to cut off a few verses too early. More than 30 years removed from the commercially accessible heights of albums like It’s a Shame About Ray, and nearly 20 years removed from the band’s last proper album comes Love Chant, a chaotic and ungrounded record that finds Dando embracing his tendency to walk unconventional paths and making his way down a different one on every track. While there’s some version of Dando’s signature laissez-faire melodic sensibility throughout, it shows up as bouncing, explosive guitar rock on “Deep End” before shifting quickly to Dinosaur Jr-esque demented country-punk on “Togetherness Is All I’m After” and then moving into repetitive cycles on a title track that sounds like the Replacements attempting to cover Neu!. Latching onto Dando’s ever-changing modes is a little harder here than with the three-chord janglers that became his biggest hits. The mood is unhinged, even compared to the hard pop of the Lemonheads’ 2006 self-titled outing (the last time Dando presented completely original material), with gears often changing multiple times within the same song. It makes for a listen that can be jarring on the first go round, but reads more as curious ambition after a few more spins. Longtime fans of the band might even find some nostalgia in the process, remembering how strange parts of Come On Feel the Lemonheads sounded upon first hearing them. Love Chant not being immediately absorbable becomes one of its shaggy charms with repeat listens, but not every song is entirely enjoyable. Dando mumbles his way through the stuporous grunge punk slog of “Be In” and swims through fuzzy synths and ideas that feel only partially finished on the discombobulated "Marauders." Aggressive, punky blasts rub uncomfortably against loose, ambling indie country tunes like “The Key of Victory,” but with the exception of a few clunkers, this disjointed flow becomes a defining characteristic of Love Chant. There’s a sense throughout that Dando is now comfortable enough with himself to take all the time he needs to explore weird ideas and decide where they start and end. That embrace of his own artistic whims is admirable, as is his choice to tread new ground rather than try to re-create his most successful work from the past. Love Chant is a wild ride, and its appeal can get lost in the dust it kicks up at first. Ultimately, however, it’s a journey worth taking, with Dando acting as a field guide who maintains a Zen calm and a cool smile while he walks us through some of the more uneven paths of his mind. ~ Fred Thomas