Evan Dando Goes Under Covers With Liv Tyler and Kate Moss

Posted on Jun 24th 2009 3:00PM by Dan Reilly
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If the Lemonheads doing a covers album featuring songs by Leonard Cohen, GG Allin and Christina Aguilera with guest vocals from Liv Tyler and Kate Moss is, well, unusual, consider the record's genesis. "I bought this painting, the cool spirograph that's on the album cover, and it was a little out of my price range," main Lemonhead Evan Dando tells Spinner about his new album, 'Varshons.' "My next original record wasn't done, and Gibby Haynes was burning me these mix CDs with great songs, so I asked him to produce a covers album for me."

Haynes, the lead singer of the Butthole Surfers, included obscure tracks like July's 'Dandelion Seeds' and Sam Gopal's 'Yesterlove' on his mixes, which set the tone for the album. "I'd never heard some of them, which was actually sort of the point," Dando says. "We wanted to do something psychedelic and inevitably country crept in. There's definitely twisted songs that I kept listening to."

Speaking of twisted, Dando takes on GG Allin's 'Layin' Up With Linda,' which is about a man who kills his girlfriend out of boredom, but he also made sure to include "some realistic stuff." His case in point? A duet with Liv Tyler on Leonard Cohen's 'Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye.' "I've known Liv since I played her boyfriend in a movie [1995's 'Heavy'] and she sang on a B-side for my solo record," Dando says. "I said 'Don't worry, we'll put you on the album next time,' and that's what we did. I would never try a Leonard Cohen cover by myself but with Liv, it's interesting. She's a good singer, a nice sort of breathy, Marilyn Monroe voice."

The inclusion of Dando's longtime friend Kate Moss to sing on Arling and Cameron's 'Dirty Robot' happened for an entirely different reason. "She was our first choice as far as who would have the best sort of disdainful, 'above it all' cool accent," he says. "She did it in a few takes. She's a quick study -- a very, very bright girl." Dando also says he doesn't expect any criticism for including people who are better known for acting and modeling on the album. "If someone's ready to hate something and they end up liking it that can be good" he says. "I've got a thick skin. I'm willing to take on all comers."

The one part of 'Varshons' Dando resisted was taking on Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful.' "That was Gibby's idea and I was like 'I am not doing that song,'" he says. "I remember saying it a bunch of times and eventually I realized it's got a great hook and without all the vocal flourishes, I think it's a decent song. I sort of made it my own in a way, like it's 'My Drug Buddy' or something, in the final analysis."

The CD is in stores now and Dando promises a vinyl version soon with a larger version of the painting he overspent on. "It's by this guy Mark Dagley from Brooklyn and it's like an op art piece, like it f---s your eyes up," he says. "It cost like six grand or something, and it's hanging on my wall. It'll look really good on the vinyl and it's actually going to have a scratch and sniff in the middle." Unfortunately, Dando won't reveal whether or not that's a joke, so you'll just have to wait and smell it for yourself.