The Lemonheads

With grungy heartthrob Evan Dando at the helm, The Lemonheads rose to mainstream alternative-rock prominence in the early ’90s. A punkish 1992 cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” and the sighing, wistful original “It’s a Shame About Ray” epitomized the band’s combination of melodic pop hooks and heart-on-sleeve melancholy. Dando formed The Lemonheads in 1986 and released a series of ragged punk records before finding a fuzzed-out groove in 1992 with It’s a Shame About Ray and dabbling in introspective country-pop on 1993’s Come on Feel the Lemonheads. The band took a break in the late ’90s and early 2000s, but Dando reformed the band in 2005 with the rhythm section of punk legends Descendents; a 2006 self-titled album featuring the pair followed. The Lemonheads’ lineup fluctuated and shifted in subsequent years, as Dando returned to the road and released a pair of covers albums that showcased his knack for mining pop obscurities for gold.