JennJoy's Full Review: Baby I'm Bored by Evan Dando
Evan Dando had his first shot at superstardom in the early 90's on the heels of Nirvana's success. His band, the Lemonheads, gained a bit of popularity and Dando became as well known for his looks as he did for his voice and songwriting abilities – perhaps even more so since he became known as the posterboy for grunge. The Lemonheads released their last album, Car Button Cloth, about seven years ago and in that time Evan Dando slipped into obscurity. Like many of his grunge and indie rock contemporaries of the time, Dando's downfall was largely due to drugs and uneasiness over his popularity.
So Evan is clean and sober now. He's in his thirties. Married. Apparently happy. And he's back with his first solo effort, Baby I'm Bored which was just released on Bar/None Records. Other than that, it doesn't seem much has changed - except the fact that most people don't get a second chance like this. Also, a lot of times when a musician gets sober they often seem to lose their muse and simply cannot create music as well as they used to. Clearly, there's a lot riding on this album for Evan Dando and a lot he has to prove - the question is, does Baby I'm Bored deliver?
This album is a collection of twelve self-reflective tracks that are extremely like the music the Lemonheads released in the 90's. Baby I'm Bored is filled with jangly, pop sensibility and Evan's acoustic guitar and sweet voice. It seems Dando's songwriting has matured quite a bit and he has obviously put some of the past seven years to good use.
There is some great indie pop-rock here for rabid fans of the genre to devour. Waking Up is really upbeat with chunky piano and guitar coupled with clapping and it's generally a fun song of the type you'd expect from Evan Dando. The same is true of the album's other upbeat tracks like My Idea,Stop My Head and The Same Thing. There is also the phenomenal song In the Grass All Wine Colored, which is more low key and melancholy, but still has a special flair that makes it stand out. It's simple acoustic beauty is highlighted by shimmering percussion and an overlay of electric guitar. These are the types of songs that are worth picking up Baby I'm Bored just to hear.
However, a good bit of the rest of the album just falls flat. Songs like Hard Drive and All My Life are almost too lo-fi for Dando, whose voice gets completely lost inside them. The interesting thing is that the tracks that aren't quite up to par are the ones with the most personal lyrics, like All my life I thought I needed the things I didn't need at all. Though they aren't the highlight of this album, I imagine these songs are all ones Evan really needed to get out of his system and perhaps other people in a similar frame of mind will find them more agreeable than I.
Baby I'm Bored will help bring Evan Dando back into indie limelight, albeit a bit more slowly this time. He still has plenty of fans out there and this album is the perfect offering after his seven year absence. While I'm not overly impressed with all the songs here and I definitely find plenty to skip over, Baby I'm Bored shows Dando hasn't lost his overall sense of melody and songwriting abilities. The future looks bright for Evan once again and perhaps his next album will find him in an even more comfortable place. Until then, I would only recommend Baby I'm Bored to the most diehard Evan Dando/Lemonheads fans.
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