Pages tagged “sebadoh”

Indie rock, you’ve gone soft. It’s hard to tell precisely when it happened, but it was probably sometime after Archers of Loaf broke up, Fender started charging thousands of dollars for Jaguar guitars and Jeff Mangum went into hiding (presumably with J.D. Salinger, Elvis Presley and the Lindbergh baby). Regardless of why or when, indie rock in 2007 has lost its grit, misplaced its edge and turned into Voxtrot.

That’s why it’s so refreshing to hear The Freed Man, the 80+ minute 1989 debut by Sebadoh, the brainchild of lo-fi rockers Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney. Even though it would be two more years until the band switched on the distortion pedals and really rocked on III, The Freed Manis a testament to the delightful griminess of late-’80s, early-’90s indie rock.

Working with a cheap Tascam four-track, ragtag guitars and some truly unforgiving microphones, Barlow and Gaffney compiled 52 intimate folk songs that sound as if they were dunked in dirty bong water just prior to recording. Barlow’s unvarnished lyrics are direct, self-deprecating and honest without drifting into the empty artiness that usually comes along with the label “lo-fi.” “Soulmate” and “Jealous Evil” build up and then break down in less than two minutes, and stumble across stoned melodies in the process. It’s this dirty kind of accidental beauty that the ’90s did so well.

Despite the fact that the guitars were out of tune and the tracks sound like they were recorded in a linoleum-floored cave, this is how most songs begin — cheap, lazy demos recorded in the privacy of somebody's home. And after listening to the processed tripe those songs often become, it might be best to take a page from Sebadoh’s handbook and leave those imperfect songs in rugged, bedroom form. Modern day indie rockers take note.

Domino Records has announced the re-release of a another Sebadoh record, set to hit the streets on July 10. The Freed Man, originally released on cassette and vinyl LP in 1989 by Homestead Records, will get its first proper digital treatment since its combined re-issue with Weed Forestin’ on CD in 1990.

The new, deluxe edition will feature an expanded tracklist—52 songs, up from 31 on the original—and liner notes penned by Sebadoh bandmates Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow. Many of the 21 new tracks have “never seen the light of day until now,” according to a recent statement.

The Freed Man’s updated tracklist includes:

1 - “Healthy Sick”
2 - “Level Anything”
3 - “Soulmat”
4 - “Ladybugs”
5 - “Close Enough”
6 - “True Hardcore”
7 - “Julienne”
8 - “Wrists Sebadoh”
9 - “Amherst Hanging House”
10 - “McKinley's Lament”
11 - “Solid Brown”
12 - “Narrow Stories”
13 - “Bridge Was You”
14 - “Drifts on Thru”
15 - “Overturns”
16 - “Yellow Submarine”
17 - “Squirrel Freedom Overdrive”
18 - “Little Man”
19 - “Land Of The Lords”
20 - “Bolder Sebadoh”
21 - “Believe”
22 - “Deny”
23 - “Wall Of Doubt”
24 - “Crumbs Sebadoh”
25 - “I Love Me”
26 - “K-Sensa-My”
27 - “Lou Rap”
28 - “Punch In The Nose”
29 - “Resistance to Flo”
30 - “Stop The Wheel”
31 - “Loose n Screw”
32 - “Oak Street Raga”
33 - “Last Day of School”
34 - “Jealous Evil”
35 - “Moldy Bread”
36 - “Made Real”
37 - “Cindy”
38 - “Nest”
39 - “My Decision”
40 - “Fire Of July”
41 - “Jaundice”
42 - “Design”
43 - “Dance”
44 - “Cyster”
45 - “Powerbroker”
46 - “The Lorax”
47 - “Pig”
48 - “Hung Up”
49 - “Slow To Learn”
50 - “Elements”
51 - “Attention”
52 - “Your Long Journey”

Related links:
Sebadoh’s official website
Sebadoh on AllMusic.com
Domino Records’ official website

Indie rock staple Sebadoh kicked off their first US tour in 14 years last night in San Diego. The two-month jaunt hits 34 North American cities and features the same classic lineup that recorded such seminal '90s albums as III, Bubble and Scrape and Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock. Concertgoers can expect to hear a set list drawing from all eras of Sebadoh’s storied career.

Though no new material is in the works yet, Domino Records gave III the deluxe-reissue treatment last year, and the label has plans to do the same to the Barlow/Gaffney-penned album The Freed Man later this year.

In the meantime, you can jog your memory by listening to a couple of favorites from III via Domino’s website.

“The Freed Pig”
“Gimme Indie Rock”

Sebadoh tour dates:

February
27 - Costa Mesa, Calif. @ Detroit Bar
28 - San Francisco, Calif. @ GAMH / Noise Pop

March
2 - Portland, Ore. @ Berbati's Pan
3 - Vancouver, B.C. @ Richards
4 - Seattle, Wash. @ Neumos
5 - Eugene, Ore. @ WOW Hall
7 - Santa Cruz, Calif. @ The Attic
9 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Troubadour
10 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Spaceland
15 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ Clubhouse
16 - Albuquerque, N.M. @ Launchpad
17 - Boulder, Colo. @ Fox Theater
19 - Minneapolis, Minn. @ 400 Bar
20 - Milwaukee, Wis. @ Shank Hall
21 - Chicago, Ill. @ Metro
22 - Detroit, Mich. @ Magic Stick
23 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
24 - Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
29 - Northampton, Mass. @ Pearl St
30 - Boston, Mass. @ Paradise
31 - New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall

April
1 - Hoboken, N.J. @ Maxwell's
2 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ Northstar
3 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
4 - Carrboro, N.C. @ Cat's Cradle
6 - Louisville, Ky. @ Headliners
7 - Nashville, Tenn. @ Exit In
8 - Atlanta, Ga. @ Variety Playhouse
9 - Tallahassee, Fla. @ Beta Bar
10 - Orlando, Fla. @ The Social
12 - Baton Rouge, La. @ Spanish Moon
13 - Houston, Texas @ Walters on Washington
14 - Austin, Texas @ Emo's
16 - Tucson, Ariz. @ Club Congress

Related Links:
Sebadoh’s homepage
Sebadoh on MySpace

Sebadoh’s return to the spotlight after five years of inactivity has been nothing, if not comforting. Though the band’s breakup (or hiatus, or whatever you want to call it) happened less than half a decade ago, their current tour stop at San Diego’s Casbah was warm and nostalgic. The crowd of longtime Sebadoh fans, many of them thirtysomethings clad in Buffalo Tom and Throwing Muses T-shirts, gathered to see Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstein perform their old songs in a celebration that was more like a family reunion than a rock show. Most fans couldn’t help themselves, ecstatically chanting the band’s name or shouting out requests from their favorite records, though none were taken.

Barlow played acoustic and electric guitar, while Loewenstein handled bass duties for the evening. However, they traveled alone, as neither Bob Fay nor more recent drummer Russ Pollard were present. Yet, in lieu of a drummer, Sebadoh used a direct line from an old boombox playing a CD demo of drum tracks Loewenstein recorded specifically for the tour. Though they could have done just as well with a sampler or drum machine, it made more sense for the lo-fi kings to use as little technology as possible. And with Loewenstein’s tracks on the boombox, it made their choice of drummers seem that much more genuine.

“I played the drums on the records,” Loewenstein joked. “This isn’t all that different.”

Barlow added, “This is our drummer Philips (pictured top left). It’s his second to last show. We don’t pay him, though. He’s our drum intern.”

The thirty-odd songs the band played during its set flowed in near-chronological order, beginning with seven songs from Sebadoh’s first record, Weed Forestin, and gradually entering into their Sub Pop-era material. When Loewenstein burst into Bakesale’s “Careful” the crowd was enraptured. Many old favorites followed—“License to Confuse,” “Skull,” “Nothing Like You” and “Soul on Fire.”

A few of the band’s songs were played without any help from “Philips,” their little silver percussion aide, one of which was Bakesale’s punk rocker “Give Up.” Barlow warned the audience that the song should never be played without drums, though the group did so anyway, surprisingly pulling off one of the highlights of the night, the absence of drums being replaced by handclaps from the crowd.

Sebadoh closed the set with “Flame,” ending with a few minutes of solos and noise jamming. Much as their reputation as indie-rock anti-heroes would suggest, Barlow and Loewenstein dispensed with rock star clichés and shouted “Fake Encore!” before walking outside for a cigarette and promptly returning for four more songs.

Alaska!’s Imaad Wasif opened the show, playing an acoustic set of songs that might be released on an upcoming solo record. But it wasn’t the first time Barlow and Wasif have been at The Casbah together, the two performed with Russ Pollard as The New Folk Implosion early last year.

(The Sebadoh photo is from an old Sub Pop press shoot. L-R: Jason Loewenstein, Lou Barlow, Bob Fay.)

Led by frontman Lou Barlow, erstwhile indie rockers, Sebadoh, will begin their first U.S. tour in five years April 19 in St. Louis. The band, which formed after Barlow split from another legendary indie-rock act, Dinosaur Jr., released numerous albums during it's initial career run, some of which (Bubble & Scrape, Bakesale) continue to influence the musical universe as forbearers of the current "lo-fi" and "emo" movements.

(photo L-R: Jason Loewenstein, Bob Fay, Lou Barlow)

Jason Lowenstein, who was only 16-years-old when he co-founded the band with Barlow, will once again accompany his bandmate on stage as he did for the European tour which became the inspiration for this current round of dates.

Fans can expect to hear old favorites in slightly revamped arrangements. Barlow says the show will feature "Jake Loewenstein and me with some simple non-electronic percussion we recorded on my trusty Tascam Porta-One cassette four-track. I play acoustic guitars and Jake plays electric bass. We strip the songs down but I'd like to think it still 'rocks.'"

With Lowenstein's budding career as a studio engineer and solo performer and Barlow's own projects—his band Folk Implosion had an honest-to-goodness hit with "Natural One" in 1995 from the Kids soundtrack which he assembled—many wonder if there will be time for a new Sebadoh record in the future.

Barlow is keeping mum, saying he has "no plans for another Sebadoh record but who knows? I don't."

Sebadoh Spring Tour 2004

• 04/19 St. Louis, Mo. Duck Room

• 04/20 Chicago, Ill. Abbey Pub

• 04/21 Detroit, Mich. Magic Stick

• 04/22 Hamilton, Ontario The Underground

• 04/23 Toronto, Ontario Horseshoe Tavern

• 04/24 Montreal, Quebec El Salon

• 04/25 Cambridge, Mass. TT The Bears

• 04/27 Hoboken, N.J. Maxwell's

• 04/28 Brooklyn, N.Y. North Six

• 05/02 Philadelphia, Penn. Khyber

• 05/03 Baltimore, Md. Ottobar

• 05/04 Carrboro, N.C. Cat's Cradle

• 05/05 Athens, Ga. 40 Watt

• 05/06 Atlanta, Ga. Echo Lounge

• 05/07 Birmingham, Ala. The Nick

• 05/08 Nashville, Tenn. Exit-In