Q (2/96, p.109) - 3 Stars - Good - "...the seeds of their future and mainstream successes were firmly sown...and about to emerge..."
Melody Maker (12/16/95, p.32) - Recommended - "...the rapidly budding Dando [flexes] a burgeoning [songwriting] talent....the real killer here is `Luka,' a wired rewrite of Suzanne Vega's ghastly, mawkish hit; [shows a] talent for melancholy recontextualisation of the oddest source material..."
Lemonheads: Ben Deily (vocals, guitar, piano); Evan Dando (vocals, guitar, drums); Corey Loog Brennan (guitar); Jesse Pool Jesse (bass); John Strohm, Doug Trachten (drums).
The Lemonheads' third album was the charm. Although co-founder Ben Deily would leave after its release, LICK was so clearly superior to its predecessors that it snagged the group a recording contract with Atlantic. Its single, an irreverent but not mean-spirited version of Suzanne Vega's "Luka," increased the Boston pop-punk band's public profile tenfold.
The group was in a state of flux during the recording, with co-leader Evan Dando splitting his time between this group and playing bass with his friends the Blake Babies, and the increasing bifurcation between Deily's punkier tunes and Dando's fascination with oddball pop--listen to "Seven Powers" or the winsome "Anyway" for proof of Dando's maturing songwriting--makes LICK sound almost like two records by two different bands. The CD adds a few tracks, including a terrific take on Patsy Cline's "Strange."