Fire Records will be reissuing Lemonheads’ first three albums Hate Your Friends (1987), Creator (1988) and Lick (1989), which showcase the band’s early punk rock roots and paved the way to them becoming one of the most successful and influential bands in indie rock. Each album will come chock full of extra tracks from a variety of sessions, radio appearances and rare EPs.
Showcasing the songwriting partnership of Evan Dando and Ben Deily, below is a sampler featuring six tracks, with three from Evan and three from Ben (whose talents are equally deserving of attention).
1 Out (Evan)
2 Second Chance (Ben)
3 Clang Bang Clang (Evan)
4 Anyway (Ben)
5 Hate Your Friends (Evan)
6 394 (Ben)
Formed whilst Evan Dando and Ben Deily were still at high school in Boston, the two became co-conspirators for the first three Lemonheads albums, which saw them in full punk rock mode and sounding like an entirely different band from the subsequent commercially successful major label releases. The three albums chart the course of the band from noise punk pranksters, to international pop stars as they evolved from Deily’s Lemonheads to Dando’s Lemonheads.
Initially the pair shared the singing, drums and guitars, and both wrote the songs. They were then joined by Jesse Peretz, who played bass and managed the band in the early days. They went on to have a succession of drummers including Doug Trachten (for Hate Your Friends) as well as John Strohm of the Blake Babies (for Creator), and Corey Loog Brennan on guitars for Lick.
Their first three albums were originally released by TAANG! Over the course of the TAANG years, Evan and Ben were both in and out of school, living together in an apartment in Cambridge MA, while Jesse and Doug soldiered through undergrad. (Corey was already a grad student.) They managed two American tours, and a large number of Boston/New York shows.
