Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons

1	Equally Damaged 0:40
2	In Particular 6:05
3	Melody of Certain Three 3:53
4	Hated Because of Great Qualities 4:42
5	Loved Despite of Great Faults 4:12
6	Ballad of Lemons 1:54
7	This Is Not 4:50
8	A Cure 5:23
9	For the Damaged 3:02
10	Mother 2:08
11	[Untitled Track] 2:37

Barnes & Noble

This trio's mix of dissonant melodies and avant-garde song forms has earned them comparisons to another New York art rock outfit, Sonic Youth. But for some, Blonde Redhead are much more engaging than their Lower East Side contemporaries. On their fifth album, MELODY OF CERTAIN DAMAGED LEMONS, the band are still working the ugly-beauty equation, but with more cohesive results than ever before. Songs such as "Equally Damaged" and "Hated Because of Great Qualities" spin delicate rhythmic webs and dark and diaphanous melodies beneath Kazu Makino's girlish vocals. "For the Damaged," a tender piano ballad about shared madness, could be a track by Tori Amos's little sister. The band doodle with keyboard experimentation throughout ("Ballad of Lemons"), but the real sonic blister arises at album's end with "Mother." A raging, punked-out brawl of careening beats and ranting vocals, the song suddenly gives way to a gentle music box mood more in tune with the rest of this album's nightmarish elegance. Ken Micallef

All Music Guide

For a record produced by Guy Picciotto (Fugazi, Rites of Spring), Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons is a surprisingly quiet affair. Rarely do the cuts on Blonde Redhead's 2000 release get much louder than an electric guitar. With their fifth record, Blonde Redhead finally emerges from the shadows of Sonic Youth's post-punk legacy by avoiding the expected detunings, distortions, and shrillness of the genre. The three-piece manages to create a record that is subtle, tuneful, and sublime. On "Loved Despite of Great Faults," instrumentation mainly consists of acoustic guitar, piano, and percussion rather than an assault of power chords, yet the mood of the song is just as effective. While the record may be quieter, it still manages to move in several different directions. "This Is Not" tips its hat to Ric Ocasek with a new wave-inspired piece while the opening cut, "Equally Damaged," and "Ballad of Lemons" suggest an influence from Danny Elfman. Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons may not accurately reflect the full body of Blonde Redhead's work, yet it presents an easy place to start. Yancey Strickler