The Lemonheads: Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners (The Best of) – review

During the mid-90s, Boston's hardcore-punks-turned-alternative-stars found themselves pulled into the grunge scene, but in reality, were far more hippyish than sardonic. Their "hits", including that career-making cover of Mrs Robinson, the sweetly romantic Into Your Arms (incidentally, another cover) and the dreamy If I Could Talk I'd Tell You, hone their laid-back strumming with a canny pop flair. Named after their 1986 debut EP, this is 47 songs' worth of Best of, which is almost as extensive as their entire back catalogue. But focus was never the Lemonheads' strong point, as lumping it all together demonstrates; there's an awful lot to wade through to get to the good stuff.