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For the most part, Varshons is pleasantly predictable, with celebrity cameos (Kate Moss, Liv Tyler) and selections from legendary rakes Leonard Cohen and Townes Van Zandt that practically qualify as typecasting. But the countrified take on GG Allin's 'Layin' Up with Linda' provides a moment of effective shock value, and improbable redemption arrives with the closing track: Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful.'
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At best, Varshons is a joy forever. Even at worst, it’s a forgiveable, even likeable, labour of love.
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MojoIts choice of selections successfully reinvent the familiar and/or introduce the less well-known. [Jul 2009, p.104]
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Dando fucks Varshons up just enough to stop it being an actively great covers record--in recent terms The Condo Fucks’ mighty "Fuckbook" stomps over it--but not enough to detract from the truth that the thread drawing the successful songs together is the still-beating talent of Evan Dando, non-dickhead version.
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It helps to pick the right tune and Dando has good taste, judging Gram Parsons ('I Just Can't Take It Anymore'), Wire ('Fragile') and Townes Van Zandt ('Waiting Around To Die') to be worthy of homage. But that's all this album is, really. Homage.
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Overall, there is sufficient sun-kissed pleasure on Varshons to extend the patience of Evan Dando-devotees a little bit longer but not enough to surpass past makeover masterstrokes.
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Patchy covers album from alt.rock veterans.
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Q MagazineVarshons succeeds thanks to an inspired breadth of material. [Jul 2009, p.125]
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It’s great to see the notoriously troubled Dando lighten up and give fans a taste of what he enjoys, but it’ll be better when he can convert that personal passion into something original and enduring.
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The depth and breadth of the tracklist are commendable but often work against the band.
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This is the real key to understanding Varshon: it can’t be a truly cynical attempt to recapture former glory because it’s too half-assed.