Come On Feel The Lemonheads

The Lemonheads: "Come On Feel The Lemonheads" (WEA)

Celebrate! The Lemonheads have released an album better than It's A Shame About Ray.

It was inevitably going to be a longer one. It's A Shame About Ray simply didn't give the listener time to get bored; wander off to make a cup of tea during the first song and by the time the kettle had boiled 'Frank Mills' was just coming to an end and it was time to start again.

Come On Feel The Lemonheads is a full-length affair, complete with endless, drug-induced, utterly self-indulgent final track, 'The Jello Fund' - the only mildly irritating thing about an album that is otherwise so pristine and immediate, it makes you wonder how Evan Dando (with help from Tom Morgan) can continue to pluck perfect tunes out of thin air like that.

If what he says is true, and Evan really has been out-doing Kurt in the heroin and crack stakes, it doesn't show. His voice was never sweeter, and yes, he really is beginning to sound like American Music Club's Mark Eitzel, especially on the mournful 'Favourite T' and 'Paid To Smile'.

The Lemonheads' take on 'mournful', naturally, is somewhat different to everybody else's. 'Favourite T' details the death of a relationship from the point of view of a guy who realises he won't be able to wear his girlfriend's clothes any more. It'd be an amusing little tale, if Evan didn't slip in lines like "Fill in the shadows of a certain corner, we used to sit there/Got me a brand new lamp, plugged it in, now the dark don't fit there" that make you feel guilty for smiling.

Juliana Hatfield again has a supporting role, and is sounding fluffier than ever. Her voice floats above Evan's drawl and pours sunlight into the songs. 'It's About Time' was written especially for her, while the compulsively hummable 'I'll Do It Anyway' was written for, and features vocals from, Belinda Carlisle.

'Dawn Can't Decide', co-written with bassist Nic Dalton, is ragged and delicious, and in fact it's this slightly more rough, chunky feel, harking back to the old-style Lemonheads, that makes this album superior to its predecessor. If you want highlights just pick any track from one to fourteen - like the twangy 'Being Around', with pedal steel guitar from Sneaky Pete, or 'Big Gay Heart', which is saved from sogginess because, well, because it's Evan singing and he can somehow turn embarrassingly simplistic lyrics into a virtue.

'Come On Feel The Lemonheads' is impeccable pop, but it's also a very warm, cherishable album. Only the album sleeve is a disappoinment. Isn't it time to stop paying so much attention to Evan's cheekbones?

After all, the drummer is better looking.

• Lorraine Freeney