Sounds Good: The Lemonheads@Granada, Mountain Sprout@Bottleneck

Step yo game up, KC!

OK, yes, I love Lawrence. So maybe I’m biased. Scratch that, I’m definitely biased.

But lately it seems like LaLa is bringing all the shows right to ME. Just making it too easy, you know?

For example, the Greasy Hair Tour is stopping through this weekend with a trio of shows.

The headliner is, of course, Evan Dando of the Lemonheads with perhaps the greasiest hair this world has ever seen.

Then throw in some hillbilly folk and indie rockers who actually try to make their hair like that and, well… no one light a match, OK?

Friday, January 27th

The Lemonheads at the Granada in Lawrence

I’ll be honest here (not like usual), the Lemonheads are one of my all-time favorites.  I discovered their stuff right before the Seattle grunge boom and followed them heavily through the early 2000s.  When I learned how to play a couple guitar chords and was drafted into a garage band, most of my songs ended up sounding like ripped off Lemonheads B-sides.

If you’re not a fan, you probably only know the Lemonheads from their up-tempo cover of Paul Simon’s classic, Mrs. Robinson.  The cover was their biggest hit and garnered plenty of radio airplay in the early to mid 90s.  Though the song was not originally included on their 1992 album, It’s a Shame About Ray, the song’s success prompted a re-release of the album with Mrs. Robinson tacked on at the end.

The band’s current tour features only one original member, the former heart throb and Gen X slacker king, Evan Dando, along with Bad Brains drummer Chuck Treece and former Taking Back Sunday bassist Fred Mascherino. Their shows lately have seen Dando play a few songs solo, then bring the band onstage to play through the whole Ray album before finishing out with a handful of tunes from the Lemonheads’ catalogue.  Sometimes they play Mrs. Robinson, sometimes they don’t, giving credence to the rumor that Dando resented his label’s insistence on re-releasing Ray. 

Time has been kind to Dando and friends, with many critics giving them credit for bridging the gap between the alt bands and the alt-country acts that exploded after the flannel industry bottomed out.    

Friday & Saturday, January 28th

Mountain Sprout at the Bottleneck in Lawrence

If you’re looking for a laid back vibe, maybe an upscale cocktail like they serve at that Manifesto thingy, this is not the place for you.  In fact, if you’re going to attend this show you might want to go ahead and just burn all your clothes afterwards. 

Mountain Sprout hails from weird and wonderful Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and they bring the Ozarks with them wherever they go.  You know, songs about fighting, smoking the reef, whiskey, cousins, beards, missing teeth, you get the idea.  They’ve been blazing a down home trail the last couple years, touring relentlessly and playing big time slots at festicals like Wakarusa. 

They’ve jammed with Willie, Widespread, and Yonder, and they really tear up their instruments.  Make no mistake – despite the fact that they are probably playing one-eyed they are excellent musicians who take the traditional string band deal and make it their own.  Keep a particular eye on fiddle player Blayne Thiebaud who thoroughly impressed last time I caught these guys.

Mountin Sprout’s playing both Friday and Saturday night at the Bottleneck.