special introductory paragraph!

The Freed Man

Weed Forestin

The Freed Weed CD

Asshole 7"

III

Gimme Indie Rock! 7"

Oven Is My Friend 7"

Split-7" with Azalia Snail

Rocking The Forest

Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock

Bubble & Scrape

Local Band Feel

Four Song CD

Bakesale

Princess 7"

Harmacy

The Sebadoh

Wade Through The Boggs

UPDATE: IN 2007, DOMINO RECORDS REISSUED THIS ALBUM ON CD WITH ABOUT TWENTY BONUS TRACKS! BUY IT!!!!!

ADDITIONAL UPDATE: "I GUESS SOME OF THESE SONGS ARE BY LOU AND SOME BY ERIC, BUT I REALLY WOULDN'T KNOW HOW TO TELL THEM APART AT THIS JUNCTURE"!? GEE MARK, HOW ABOUT BY THEIR VOICES!?!? WAS I FUCKING RETARDED WHEN I WROTE THIS REVIEW? DID I HAVE SHIT IN MY FUCKING EARS? WAS I A SHITTY FUCKING REVIEWER? THESE ARE RHETORICAL QUESTIONS.

Reader Comments

jam@apple-o.com
Killer diller! Insatiably built! This freaky collection of boom-box recordings never fails to entertain. Music along the lines of "Poledo" on "You're Living All Over Me". The birth of the lo-fi uber-genre. The band at this point is a duo, and though Lou Barlow's tunes are good, the songs turned out by the other guy Eric Gaffney are GREAT, which might explain why they dropped a notch when they lost him a few years later. There is a creative spark between them. Lou does give us at least one immortal classic in the song "Soul Mate", which contains the lines "A soul mate is a special girl, A girl that's just like me, She'll share tremendous oral sex, And try everything she sees". By God, this poetry should be taught in every high school English class in the USA, alongside Joyce, Shakespeare, Ginsburg! Get the vinyl if you can, the CD (which includes the album Weed Forrestin) leaves out a few tracks. If you like this stuff then try Syd Barrett's acoustic recordings, or vice versa. PS I can't really review "Weed Forrestin" as I haven't had a proper listen yet, but it seems more of the same, so get it, on vinyl cuz it's got the lyrics on the sleeve.

Reader Comments

MagEarwhig@classic.msn.com
This is messiest and most beautiful album ever--my all time fave.

I have trouble getting all that much into (or out of) Guided By Voices (though I'm sure they're fine), but this stuff really resonates. Maybe it's all the lo-fi raw emotion, or the no-fi guitar sound, or the ho-bo poor man on the corner, or the mo-fo tough guy with a goatee, or the ac-dc highway to black or the ebn-ozn AEIOU Sometimes Y, but these tracks have lost none of their sorrow or power over the years (THIRTEEN!) since I first heard them (TWELVE!). Aren't I cool how I got into Sebadoh RIGHT when the third album came out???? Especially since nobody gave a shit about them even ONE YEAR LATER!?!?!?! Good old college music and its "of the moment" nature.

The CD features ALL of Weed Forestin and a good portion (most) of The Freed Man, along with a few interesting songs that I'm pretty sure weren't on EITHER album!!!! Including a punk rock version of "Yellow Submarine" with a little kid singing and maybe a few others.

Do you think this is the first time in twenty years that anyone has mentioned EBN-OZN's "AEIOU Sometimes Y"? They're one of those early MTV bands that has been totally bureid by the sands of time, like Kajagoogoo or U2. Remember U2? "Two Hearts Beat As One"? What one-hit assholes!

Reader Comments

raceofdoom@gmail.com
I like the EBN-OZN reference. I saw that shitty video on VH1 Classic the other day and was like "wow, what the hell is this?"

God, that bloody awful chorus... "A! E! I! O! U! SOME! TIMES! Y!"

And that guy had one fucking braid. ONE BRAID. THAT WAS IT. IT WAS THE UGLIEST BRAID EVER, TOO. I wanted to climb into the TV set and CUT IT OFF WITH A PAIR OF HEDGE CLIPPERS.

A! E! I! O! U! SOME! TIMES! Y!

Mark, you're awesome.

Haven't heard the Sebadoh crap, just thought I'd comment on that weird band.

bb714@torfree.net (Scott McDowall)
i got the Freed Weed cd recently and it is pretty good. i give it an 8 out of 10. it semms better when you listen to it on headphones.

"Pig (Coward)" - "You may have the wicked fun/The power drips on down to one/excuse -- no one could blame you"; "Tear down what you can/Then you are an honest man"; "You're such a scared little pig/So dangerous to be with"

"Hung Up" - "There's no such thing as justice/I don't know why I care"

"Slow to Learn" - "I was on your side/I guess you'll never know/Oh my brother, we wish you well/....Rot in Hell."

"Untitled" - "You don't have to be dramatic about it. You did try to kill yourself. I have 65 songs. 65 are all about you! They're all about pain! Don't play these fucking games, man. This 'struggling artist, this is like everything I've ever wanted to get out and you don't understand it' or some bullshit."

Considering his mixed feelings about his role in Dinosaur Jr., it's not clear whether these lyrics refer to his feelings toward J, or to how he presumes J. feels toward him. Regardless, all four tracks are absolutely excellent, both musically and lyrically. The first three are lo-fi, acoustic and emotional, recorded at home on cheap equipment just like the first two Sebadoh LPs. The fourth is an electronic-toned/spoken word exercise of rage.

Aaaaaaaand then there's side two. Eric's side. Okay, "Julienne" may only have one part but it's a gleeful shakey singalong part, and the twangy single-chorded cover of Doc Watson's "Your Long Journey" is super-goodened by the lovely high-end vocals of Julie Talon. However, his two distorted rock entries ("Violent Elements" and "Attention") could really use some work. Perhaps a second part? Or a hook that isn't puke-inducing? Aaaahhh what do I know.

Everything! That's what! I know everything!

Who shot JFK? Oliver Stone! In 1991, right after he shot The Doors.

Is there intelligent life in outer space? There sure is! The Earth is flying through outer space as we speak.

Will we ever find a cure for cancer? Only if enough people suck my penis! That way we can figure out whether or not sucking my penis is a cure for cancer.

The craziest thing about the Asshole single is that it doesn't even have a song called "Asshole" on it! Remember Denis Leary's "Asshole"? ("I'm an asshole! Yo-dee-yo-dee-yo!") Remember Beck's "Asshole"? ("She'll do anything to make you feel like an asshole") Remember that guy with the mustache from Starship? (He was an asshole) But not here! No, there's no "Asshole" in the stars for Mr. Lou Barlow or Mrs. Eric Gaffney!

There is, however, an album called III coming up.

The cover tunes are great, though! Good mix, too. Hi-fi, if you will! Actual production, if you will further! And they've got a third guy in the band!!! Jason, they call him. No big deal, but at least there's someone drumming now, and some electric guitar. That doesn't quite make up for the lack of memorable tuneage, but at least the album doesn't give you one o' them cruddy hissy headaches that the last couple always threatened, heartless bastards that they were.

2007 UPDATE: A RECORD COMPANY IN LIFE JUST RE-ISSUED THIS CD WITH AN ENTIRE BONUS DISC OF EXTRA SONGS, INCLUDING THE ENTIRE "GIMME INDIE ROCK" SINGLE! BUY IT!!!!

Reader Comments

dstraub@geosys.com (David Straub)
Its scope is impressive but the problem here seems to be that the reach exceeds the grasp. "The Freed Pig" starts things off very promisingly with some squalling guitar noise at the end which does a lot to assert Lou's differences from J. The covers are a treat. "Total Peace" and "Spoiled" are two of Lou's nicest tunes... the former is one of the prettiest songs ever commited to what must surely be a tape from an old answering machine. Eric scores with "Violet Execution" for sure, but I have to agree that most of the rest of his stuff here sounds derivative of that song. "Scars, Four Eyes" is pretty groovy. Loewenstein deserves some mention here for doing a lot to anchor the band-based sound and for the intro to "Hopping up and Down". However his actual tunes here don't do anything for me at all. I'd give this a 6 or 7 since so many of these experiments and sketches are pretty half-baked.

Itchload@aol.com
The first time I listened to this it bored the Hell out of me. Now, I find it much more enjoyable, I think it starts off very well, and the first 10 songs are all very good. The rest is filled with nice moments, but this album hasn't stood up to the test of time like many ageless indie works of brilliance. It gets an 8/10

Heckler_spray@hotmail.com
Great album I really dig the odvious laziness in recording and production that goes into these records , I think Jason needs some credit for I think its called "black haired girl" top song and I was stoked to here on a local radio station Erics noise-fest at the end of the record recently

jam@apple-o.com
Yes this really IS their best record - at least their most eclectic and experimental in that it goes all over the place. The band has now turned into a power trio ala their idols Husker Du/Minutemen/Meat Puppets, but they regularly TRADE INSTRUMENTS and SONGWRITING DUTIES, which keeps it very INTERESTING. It also is total stoner rock, but the pot has not made them into catatonic couch potatoes yet, rather the first 7 or so songs capture the bliss. While there are plenty of throwaway immature little experiments scattered throughout these 70+ minutes, they are pleasurable ones at least, and at the time, this record was a relevation. Years later, the cover of "Wonderful Wonderful" still rules, and you can't touch this. The song "Kath" has such poignant and catastrophic music and words, that it alone makes this record qualify as a classic. But it's also FUN, with music about asshole rockstars and fearing oneself turning gay, and parents who did too much liquid LSD freaking out over their bleeding children. A keeper.

spectre316@email.com (Matt F.)
This album is really super duper good, UNTIL TRACK 11. Then it gets really super fucking stupid.

It doesn't pick up until track 19, either.

Bad songs, those 11-18 are! BAD!

Otherwise, I think Eric's stuff isn't really interchangable myself. I like that Violet Execution song, even if it makes no fucking sense whatsoever, and the lyrics and voices in "As the World Dies, The Eyes of God Grow Bigger Because He Has to Read Long Pretentious Song Titles" are really scary and good. That may be one of my favorite album closers of all time. ALL TIME I TELL YOU. I give it a 8/10. Or, at amazon.com, a 5/5, because EVERYTHING at amazon.com gets A FIVE STAR REVIEW!

Just gimme indie rock!

Started back in '83
Started seeing things so differently
And hardcore wasn't doing it for me no more

Started smoking pot
Thought things sounded better slow
Much slower, heavier
Black magic melody to sink this poser's soul

VU, Stooges, undeniably cool
Took a lesson from that drone rock school
Manipulate musicians, hack righteous drool

Getting loose with the Pussy Galore
Cracking jokes like Thurston Moore
Pedal-hopping like a Dinosaur, J.

Rock n' Roll genius, ride the middle of the road
Milk that sound, blow your load
Soon it's further than you ever said it'd go
Four stars in the Rolling Stone

Oh, its sludge rock
and it's hard-ass harsh!

Just gimme indie rock!
It's gotta be!
C'mon indie rock!
Just gimme indie rock!

Taking inspiration from Hüsker Dü
It's a new generation of electric white boy blues!

Breaking down the barriers like Sonic Youth
They got what they wanted; maybe I can get what I want too!

Time to knock the hard rock on its side
Time to knock the shit right up a storm
Time to amaze with the indie sludge
Grunge!

The Velvet Underground. The Stooges. Husker Du. Pussy Galore. Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth. J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. All rode hard and put up wet by Mr. Louis P. Barlowe.

Plus the song is catchy as hell, especially when the rollicking second half boogies on in.

The rest of the single doesn't quite live up to this promise, but the full-band rock version of Weed Forestin's "Ride the Darker Wave" is a tasty delight that makes one long to hear some of the other acoustic classics re-recorded with electricity. The three remaining tracks are devoted to one solo song each, of which Jason Loewenstein's is unexpectedly the finest; his "New King" is a very cool piece of psychedelic folk with a rhythm line seemingly created by a pair of scissors being opened and closed. By comparison, Lou's sex-fixated "Red Riding Good" is more gross than memorable, and Eric's "Calling Yog Soggoth" is a decent piece of folk blues but it'd be even better if it didn't meander for so darned long (its finest moment might actually be the sick distorted noise loop at the end!).

Knock knock
Who's there?
Sebadoh
Sebadoh who?
I don't know, Babs. But I do know this: your uvula's on the fritz!

Best,
A Really Really Long Time Ago

So can you imagine the look of wonder and charm on my face when Sebadoh came onstage and blasted all their songs as screaming noise rock? It was hilarious! What was going on? Where had this insane stylistic change come from? Nobody knew -- even the "Gimme Indie Rock" single hadn't prepared us for THIS!

But THIS certainly prepared us for the band's next release, the ridiculously noisy and stupid Oven Is My Friend single. At the time, I didn't know that "Oven Is My Friend" was a cover (originally by Flipper rip-offs Church Police); all I knew is that it was screamy and noisy as all hell. I loved it! The rest of the record paled in comparison (aside from catchy cowpop-punk "Cheapshot," it's mostly loose, improvisation-based noise and screaming), but what a statement. What a way of saying, "You know what? Fuck you. We'll do whatever we want." -- with seemingly no concern about alienating their core audience! I appreciated the gesture greatly, and it's part of the reason why I found the later, more staid indie rock Sebadoh so disappointing.

And what's the deal with the band credits? Apparently "Oven is My Friend" and "Cheapshot" were performed by the full trio, but the ugly Hex Enduction Hour-loose "Prove It" was recorded by Lou and Eric alone, and the slow improvised noise jams "Waxbag Maestro" and "Delicious Cakes" are credited to Eric, Jason and one "Johnny Colgan"! It's one thing to have each member contribute a solo track a la Gimme Indie Rock, but this is rigoddamndicfuckenuassholelous! Different factions? Guest members taking the place of real members? Eric somehow winding up on all five tracks? Somebody get me a ladder!

Best,
Greg Lake

Lyrical highlights include:

- "OVEN! OVEN! OVEN! IS MY FRIEND!"

- "AND I REALLY WANNA SUCK YOUR DICK!"

- "Let them sniff your butt"

- "WHAT AM I DOING HERE!?"

- "Wonderfist takes the mist"

- "OVEN! OVEN! OVEN! IS MY FRIEND!"

But enough about Sebadoh. Here's a bunch of TV spin-offs I just made it up in order to help television win back the audience it lost to the Fax Machine:

- Boss Hogg's Eatery (Dukes of Hazzard spin-off)
- AfterKIRK (Kirk spin-off)
- Jason Bateman Is A Prick (Silver Spoons spin-off)
- That Baby That Showed Up In The Last Season (Family Ties spin-off)
- They're All Dead. ALL DEAD!!!! (Diff'rent Strokes spin-off)
- Dr. Squiggy, MD, DO, ClinPsyD, DDS, PharmD, OD, BSPT, DPM, ND, AuD, RN, DVM (Laverne & Shirley spin-off)
- Nine Is Even More Enough (Eight Is Enough spin-off)
- Joanie Loves Benson (Happy Days, Benson spin-off)
- Gigantic Tit Lady (Punky Brewster spin-off)
- Franklin Cover! (The Jeffersons spin-off)

Reader Comments

James Greig
This was the first thing I heard by Sebadoh, when I had some indirect involvement with Siltbreeze back in the day. It totally blew me away, still does and is still my favourite Sebadoh song 20 years later (I don't care if it's a cover). I actually proclaimed it to be my favourite song for the rest of the 90's and enjoyed terrifying people (or making them laugh) with it every chance I got. The rest of the ep, I agree, is nothing to write home about, but if it was all as good as 'Oven' it would lose some of its impact. Mean, overly trebly guitars and Lou screaming. The OVEN!!! OVEN!!! OVEN. IS. MY. FRIEND!!!! mantra borders on Downs Syndrome. Perfect, perfect song. I too never really got totally into Sebadoh after hearing it. They never did anything else that made me want to run around the room screaming and laughing at the same time.

I saw Sebadoh in Christchurch sometime in the mid 90's when the were being smug, lazy jerks. I was so pissed off at their shitty "Aren't you peasants lucky we're here? Fuck you!" attitude I spent a lot of time and effort drunkenly screaming "OVEN!" between each song, knowing full well they wouldn't play it, annoying my friends and prompting Lou to finally respond "How the fuck do you even KNOW about that?!". I guess he assumed we were all backwater idiots, even though he was a big fan of the Xpressway label that imported Siltbeeze fair, and had me running around Christchurch trying to sell it. My resonse "Because I'm as cool as you."

They are playing in Melbourne in October and I'd quite like to see them anyway, but I'm thinking of doing the same thing, mainly because I'm way too old to be doing the same thing. It could either be a hoot, or crushingly embarrassing.

Sebadoh, on the other side, keep up the crazy line-up shenanigans I discussed in my Oven Is My Friend review. Anthemic fuzz Superchunker "Toledo" is credited to Lou, Jason & Eric; out of tune guitar interplay workshop "Godwanaland/No Compass" to Eric alone; and Pavementy indie rocker/industrial clang loop "Pete" to Lou, Jason and MR. BOB FAY! What's HE doin' round? He wasn't even a member of the band yet!

But enough about Sebadoh. Now here's a bunch of zombie movies that somebody should make, because zombie movies are sizzling hot right now:

- About 3:35 PM of the Dead
- Zomboni: The Ice Resurfacer Machine That Kept Rolling Around All Willy-Nilly
- Dawn(TM) of the Dead: Now They're Washing Dishes!
- Land of the Living Dead: A Florida Travelogue
- Zombie Computer Apocalypse: Spam Holocaust
- Night of the Living Day: The Unit of Time That Ate People
- Rob Zombie's "Shitty Movie"
- The Zombies Who Were Unable to Dig Themselves Out Of Their Caskets, And Thus Didn't Really Pose A Threat to Anybody, And Nobody Knew About Them
- The Zombies: Time of the Living Season
- Zombizizzles: Rappers Attempt To Tell People That The Dead Are Alive

And so, you see, I wasn't surprised when Rocking The Forest (named after a hilarious sample at the end of "Land Of The Lords" on The Freed Man) started showing up around town, introducing a brand new noisy-beyond-words (but still, on occasion, poppy!) version of Sebadoh. Granted, they'd already released the screamer singles "Gimme Indie Rock" and "Oven Is My Friend" months earlier, but still - a whole album of this stuff made it seem less like a joke and more like a great career move. Sitting pretty at eight songs, this import-only release was everything I could have possibly hoped for from my new favorite kings of sarcasm. It had your obnoxious tomfoolery (aforementioned "Gimme Indie Rock"), noisy new versions of quiet old classics ("Ride The Darker Wave," "It's So Hard To Fall In Love"), screaming Eric Gaffney heavy metal ("Cry Sis"), some beautiful new Barlow balladry ("Really Insane II" and "Vampire," both of which erupt into feedback-drenched noise at the end, just as you'd expect), and even a pretty neat lengthy tune by band friend Bob Fay, who was enlisted to fill in for an absent Gaffney several times before finally replacing him for good in 1993. So the record is a great one, both hilarious and infectious - creative, too!

And remember this, Melvins fans; lo-fi noise is the most painful noise there is.

Reader Comments

Steve
Mark, just realized that the hilarious self-promotional tape that you mentioned hearing them play on stage ("eagerly b---ing your grandpa...Sebadoh!") is actually on CD now, as the last track on the bonus disc of the reissue of Sebadoh III. I got it a while back, but had never gotten that far before (I'm bad that way, such a short attention span). It's listed as "Showtape '91" and lasts about 11 minutes. Just in case your readers (or you) are interested!

Reader Comments

dstraub@geosys.com (David Straub)
You bet your ass this is the most painful noise there is! Too bad about that production because this has some great Barlow on it ("Brand New Love", done nicely by the chunk soon after, and "Vampire"), as well as two good covers (again) and some truly wacked shit from Gaffney. "Notsur" is better than anything Loewenstein put on III. I'd give it an 8, myself.

Eru@eriss.com
this is what i call really good dough. the best fucking dough on the planet. if you disagree mailbomb me eru@erris.com

svante.malmgren@swipnet.se
Get a life! "Notsur Dnuora Selcric" is one of the few songs that rocks on this record. And how can you laugh your ass of to such a bad mess as "cecilia chime....", it really sucks.

Itchload@aol.com
This was my first SeBADoh record. It seemed just what I needed after completing Sonic Youth's discography (which left me on the hunt for noise) At first I thought it sounded very Pavement-esque (even though both bands arrived at the same time) but once I got used to it, I realized it was unique. However, I was shocked when I bought all their other albums that they weren't nearly as noisy, but I got used to them. Hey Mark, how come when Sebadoh inject white noise into their music you go wild giving the rave reviews, but while Sonic Youth pioneered injected extreme noise into song structure(and they are much more creative noise-makers than Sebadoh) you constantly complain about it? Anyway, I'll give this an 8.

Heckler_spray@hotmail.com
This was for a long time one of my absolute favourite albums , although a couple of Gaffneys noisier moment could fuck right off as far as I am concerned , but then again what would I know

jam@apple-o.com
Here's where the rot started to set in (another cliched saying! but this record DESERVES IT!). A lot of people seem to like this record, but after the last one, it comes off as a bunch of boringly predictable outtakes and no-fun whining and screaming. "Vampire" is based around what has to be the dullest chord progression ever. I just don't get it. The production and songwriting are so flat, that if Chris Columbus had heard this record, he would have probably just thought the earth was too, and never discovered America.

nineinchgoth@hotmail.com
I actually picked up an import CD that had the entirety of ROCKING THE FOREST and SEBADOH VS. HELMET back in the day. The best songs were indeed compiled on SMASH YOUR HEAD..., but why they left off "Gimme Indie Rock" is a mystery.

polkatronixx
At the risk of being pedantic, it's worth pointing out that Superchunk recorded their rockin' version of "Brand New Love" before Sebadoh did. I don't know if Sebadoh's decision to re-record "Brand New Love" as a rock song or whatever had anything to do with the Superchunk cover, but Superchunk deserve credit for seeing the potential in plugging that song in before Sebadoh!

Reader Comments

dstraub@geosys.com (David Straub)
See, now, this one's my favorite. I like all these songs except for that last skronker by Jason. I sometimes can get impatient with the daffneys, but usually I think they're some of the most creative music recorded in the past five years. Loewenstein's tunes are getting a hell of a lot better... "Sister" and "Sixteen" are rudimentary, but not offensively so. He sneaks a hook or two in. And Lou, Lou, holy shit does he ever trot out a winner with "Think". This has to be one of the loveliest songs I've ever come across... and I've come across quite a good many... "Soul and Fire" and "2 years 2 days" are both killer too... And "Homemade" is great for a chuckle even though I doubt that's what he intended. I don't know what it is that he does, but he does it so well that it leaves me speechless when he's on. I think it might be the way he often writes songs to have strong vocal melodies, with the music almost as an afterthought or accent, and that seems to be an anomaly in the 90s. The man is not afraid to sing, even if he's not the world's greatest singer. Anyway, thank goodness for a decent sounding production on this one. I give it a 10.

jam@apple-o.com
Boy (or girl) did these guys bounce back! It seems they have had some time to write some quality songs (as opposed to releasing a rushed bunch of half finished outtakes) and still manage to make some of the craziest experimental whimsical fuck-me-in-the-ear-with-a-spittle-lubricated-little-toe, lemurlike las vegas style hunt for bambi with a paint gun rockenroll you'll ever year. Well, somewhere between III and this record, the love of Lou's life, Kathleen, got tired of paying rent for a starving artist and left him for a wealthy businessman, and he seems to have pulled himself together and resolve himself to WIN HER BACK by making the BEST MUSIC OF HIS LIFE. I gotta warn you, the love songs do get kinda sappy - "Soul & Fire" is a painful listen to these ears. Even though I grudgingly will admit it is a good song, it just sounds like it's for GIRLS to listen to, ya know? But hey, Lou's on a MISSION, to win back his #1 GIRL, so we should forgive him. But this record is more than just sap, it's got mosquitos embedded in the sap too! With DNA perfectly preserved, so we can re-grow the DINOSAURS! And that's exactly what Sebadoh do, re-capturing the power of Lou's earlier band's best album Bug in the song Home-made, which evidently is about getting stoned and playing with yourself. Boy (or girl), losing your soul mate sure does suck! Another thing this album has more of is songs by a third rising star, Jason Lowenstein, who contributes at least a couple classic kickass type rock songs, "Sister" which has a killer lead guitar, and the raging "Flood". Everpresent is the buoyant and unpredictable Eric Gaffney who seems to be the Syd Barrett of the group, keeping them on that line between Wack and Genius. Sadly, this would be Gaffney's last stint with the group, as he would wander off to relative obscurity and never return to this fold (one can still hope, I suppose).

I don't know if this is a bootleg or not, but it sounds like it was pieced together by Mr. Barlow himself, what with its ridiculous loopings of giggling groupies and snippets of the famous Sebadoh concert tape.... Great presentation, wonderful variety -- my only complaint is that it doesn't include the stirring rendition of "Land Of The Lords" that I performed with the band my freshman year in college. Lou told me he loved that bit and wanted to put it on a live album, but I guess he opted against it. And thus my musical career ended before it began. Sigh!

Reader Comments

jasper@eggsandbacon.com
I met Eric Gaffney from Sebadoh today. He works at a guitar shop in Berkeley, where I live. It was completely surreal, just thought you should know!

Reader Comments

keeblin@iwaynet.net (Jamie Clark)
3 chords? Get out of here. "Rebound" is 2 chords and a riff ;)

markc@javanet.com (Mark Cybulski)
Can't say I agree with you on this one. I would add at least three little more dots to this one. Just because they seemed to have evolved beyond some of their previous bizarre slop-rock doesn't mean they've lost their edge - you can't record the same stuff forever. I admit that it took some time to grow on me, but now I love it. "Rebound" rocks. "Not A Friend" is just beautiful. Great lyrics. Some tight playing for a change. What's not there to like?

whatsupbird@compuserve.com (Matthew J. Wellner)
On the whole with your opinions of Sebadoh, I wouldn't confuse lack of talent for creativity. And I wouldn't confuse noise with experimentalism, either. Noise is good in the context of a song, but "Cecilia Chime in Melee" is not a song, and therefore it is not good. I love everything from the Freed Man through Harmacy, but without a doubt the band peaked in creativity and musicianship (remember, this is music) on Bakesale, and the reason is because Gaffney was *gone*, and Lou wasn't quite as much of a sap.

brianjc@webtv.net (Brian Carlson)
primo Sebadoh in 1994. If it wasn't good then why did they try to make Harmacy sound almost exactly the same.

dstraub@geosys.com (David Straub)
This album bridges the gap between the strangeness of Bubble & Scrape and the groovy accesibility of Harmacy, and doesn't always live up to the task... I agree with you, Mark that the better tunes are bunched at the beginning. Jason hits hard with "Careful" and "Not too Amused", which are good emotional angst rockers. "Magnets Coil" and "Dreams" are fantastic. "Got It" seems doofy and simplistic at first, but after maybe ten listens I found it to be one of my favorites on the album. I really get lost after that, with only "Together or Alone" bringing my interest back at the very end of the record. "Rebound" is really blah. "Not a Friend" and "Mystery Man" both sound like half-assed rewrites of "Soul and Fire" to me, and that's not a good thing. I give it a 7.

LuVox97@aol.com (Marc)
I thought you knew what you were talking about, but your thoughts about III are a bit off. It's sebadoh's masterpiece if anything.

But you weren't far off on bakesale.

well, come to think of it, you do actually have quite a good grasp on most of their records and the way you write is nice.

ok, I'm going to go and lay on the floor

Whar25@aol.com
DUDE......DUDE........DUDE. O.K. THE ALBUM PRETTY MUCH SUCKED BUT REBOUND AND LICSENCE TO CONFUSE ARE WORTH BUYING IT.

jam@apple-o.com
Here my friends is where the band goes through a couple of changes, and becomes Sebadoh V3:newer, more predictable. Gone are the days of wild experimentation, replaced by a more stable unit. Gaffney has split and been replaced by Bob Fay, who is a full-time drummer. That means less instrument swapping. The band by now was also finding some success, and getting comfortable. Good for them - but also, bad for them. Also, Lou has his girl friend back, who he will soon marry, so now he has to prove he can do this as a real JOB and PAY THE BILLS. OK maybe that wasn't what he was conscously thinking, but compared to the previous records, that's what the music sounds like it's a product of. Yes, fuck me. But this album's just not fully up to snuff. We'll give it a solid 'B'. Jason Lowenstein takes on a bigger roll, and along with Lou contributes out some decent songs of medium hardness. Where the previous records were a hodge podge mix of electric and acoustic rock folk and experimentation, the band has turned to a definite rock sound squarely in the "indie rock" genre, which by '94, was becoming a bit too clearly defined to be really interesting. Some of the songs, like Lowenstein's enjoyable "S. Soup" border on metal, but he ruined it by renaming it from its original cool title "Poop Soup". Therein lies the rub - the band is starting to tone down, and become "adults" and treat this like a job. Maybe they're just growing up but it shows in the music, which has lost that healthy glow - Caroline, NO!!!!!!!! The beginning of snoozeville, the group would go on to produce an OK EP, and at least one really good solo EP by Barlow which was still experimental, but this would be the last full album I would buy. The next one "Harmacy" would do much harm, bludgeoning us with boredom. After that I just couldn't take it. I saw them live in '98 and it was just awfully awfully dull dull dull dull dull. I hope they find the magic once again soon. Maybe I'm just jaded! Some music though, is undeniably great, like the earlier Sebadoh and Dinosaur records and from this point on, we would be denying more and more.

spectre316@email.com (Matt F.)
Eww. So incredibly boring. Why does it get a 4 1/2 star rating at AMG?

All the songs are mid-tempo mid-ninties alternative radio-friendly shit. It goes on forever and ever, and I for ONCE don't care for all the whining bullshit like I did on "III." That, um, hit "S...." uh, I forget (it starts with an S) especially sucks. There's a lyric in there about "come and take my ____ for a ride" and it's so cheesy and stuff. Is it "snake"? I'm trying to remember. Maybe it was "soul." That's a bit more deep for the pre-emo set. ... Fine, fine, I'll fucking check amazon.com and see what it was. OKAY?!

Oh yeah. "Skull."

Everytime I hear that lyric, I imagine someone having sex with a skull. Probably really painful. Just like listening to THIS ALBUM.

Lou Barlow must've been busy because he doesn't do Jacqueline Schitt on this record. Instead, it features two Jason Loewenstein compositions -- straight-up indie rocker "Princess" (which would be re-recorded as "Prince-S" for Harmacy) and stompy shouty bass-driven dink "Half Undressed" -- as well as three Residents covers. WHAT THE F---?? SEBADOH DOING RESIDENTS COVERS!? That's what you should be saying right now.

But I ain't lyin'. While Lou Barlow was out mowing the lawn with his dick, Jason was masterminding faithful covers of "Act of Being Polite," "Moisture" and "Suburban Bathers" from The Residents' Commercial Album. Interesting thing about The Residents: it's extremely difficult to faithfully cover their weirdass music. For "Act of Being Polite," they replace the keyboard with rock instruments but honestly the original song wasn't very good, and this cover is even less good. "Moisture" is better; they replace the synth with bass guitar and do a perfect recreation of the guitar line. Still, Jason can't hold a candle to the idiosyncratic drawling Residents singer; he just sounds like an indie rock guy talking. And this is why "Suburban Bathers" is the best of all three! Apparently while The Residents were recording this song, their usual lead singer was out washing the car with his balls, because the guy who sings it sounds JUST LIKE JASON LOEWENSTEIN. Was this the plan from the very beginning? Did The Residents purposely have that song sung by a guy who sounds just like Jason Loewenstein would sound twenty years later so that he could do a cover of it and blow the world's mind?

Please understand: I have no proof that Lou Barlow was out mowing the lawn with his dick when this single was recorded. For all I know, he silently played guitar on all five of these songs, and they just hired a guy to mow the lawn with his dick. Either way, the lawn ended up looking great, aside from the sperm.

Speaking of which, here are some great new euphemisms I just made up for "sperm":

- Egg Chasin' Fiddle Fuck
- Stream of Consciousness
- Salt Lake City; Population: Your Face
- The Worst Milk In Town
- Hey! My DNA's In That Thing!
- Richard "Dick" Glue
- Orgasm Cola
- Minus The Whale
- Mustache Moisturizer
- My Precious Babies, Each and Every One, All With Their Own Cribs

Reader Comments

S.Sharma.Cen@bham.ac.uk (Sanjeev Sharma)
Don't mock King Master Lowenstein; he flys like an eagle in the midnight sky far above you pissant, sad, crapstains. Oh but i do agree with the loss of the man who is known as GAFFNEY. Such a disappointing loss, but at least we are left with the greatest explosion of American talent, with the collaboration of three of the finest Indie/Folk/Rock/Obscurinados, in the land in the form of the virgin castaway: Bubble And Scrape.

jfare@execpc.com (Jason Fare)
Harmacy is the most diverse Sebadoh album. Lou Barlow's songwriting is gorgeous at times, vicious at times, and wonderful all of the time. I don't know why you rate it so low. It is definitely one of the 5 best records of 1996. How can you possibly give such high ratings to AC/DC, and then trash an intelligent, powerful collection like this? I've listened to this record at least 10 times straight through. Give it another chance. It's very addictive after you've heard it a few times.

dstraub@geosys.com (David Straub)
I think you're too harsh here. Lou's material is uniformly good, and I think Jason contributes 4 or 5 gems here. Of course he's not quite at Lou's level of subtle beauty, but "Prince-S" and "Can't Give Up" are both solid rock tunes and "Nothing Like You" is fairly lovely. "Zone Doubt" occasionally grabs me too. Again though it is Barlow who leads the way with "Ocean", "Beauty of the ride" and "Too Pure", all of which stand next to his best stuff. I'd give it an 8 or maybe a 9 if I'm in the mood for Loewenstein. Plus, the playing is the best they have done. Try it out again, man!

brianjc@webtv.net (Brian Carlson)
This one is good but it doesn't have the tension or poke-in-your-brain-pop of Bakesale or Bubble and Scrape. However, I am looking forward to return to form on their Warner Bros. debut.

smsmith@erinet.com
I THINK THE GUY WHO IS WRITING THIS CRAP SUCKS FATS COCKS SEBADOH IS NOT MEANT TO BE LIKE THIS WITH U GEEKS TALKING SOME SERIOUSLY STUPID SHIT U DONT KNOW ABOUT SO GET OFF IT GIMPS......................

InMyEyes82@aol.com
Oh my god. I have no idea how anyone can listen to this band. They are a bunch of pretentious weed-smoking weasels who cannot play their instruments and they expect everyone to love them because they are on an independent label. Not me, holmes. Can you imagine a show where Sebadoh, in full shittiness, opens up and then after they finish the show out comes....Black Flag!!! It would be so hilarious to see these idiots get shit thrown at them. Lou Barlow was okay in Dinosaur, but that was only because he didn't say anything, just quietly played his bass. Now he thinks that people want to hear his "lo-fi love ballads". Wrong, stupid ass. Even if your band was pertinent back in the early nineties, its certainly expendable now. And in my opinion, Sebadoh has always sucked. Harmacy is horrible. Whoever thought that anyone wanted to hear Bob Fay write an instrumental? Go back to Massachussets, you clowns. Sebadoh is just as bad as the frat boys that they mock in their songs.

burgehouse@iscweb.com (Gail Burge)
Oh my god, your breaking my heart talking that way about Jasen! His songs are incredible and I think some are far better than the same old wo is me Lou songs. The melody of Happily Divided off of Bubble and Scrape tugs at my heart strings overtime and Worst Thing on Harmacy makes me want to jump up and down. Don't even get me started talking about his songs on the new album. I'm not trying to say that Lou isn't a worthwhile person, but ya gotta love Jasen........not only do I think he is as important to Sebadoh as Lou but he is so damn adorable (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

murraywest@xtra.co.nz
Holy shit, this has got to be the most under-rated album ever:EVERYONE I know of who has heard this record just fuckin hates it - why? Sure, Sebadoh are an (ahem) "acquired" taste, but this album, to my ears, is pretty accessible:songs like Beauty of the Ride and On Fire are pretentious white-boy pop for sure, but so is everything the Foo Fighters have ever done and lots of people seem to think they're OK (maybe cause that Dave Grohl guy used to be in that other band...you know the one...)and after all, this is a band signed to Sub-Pop we're talking about here; in the company of all that tripe, its absolutely incomprehensible that they don't get better press.

jason_a@earthlink.net (Jason Adams)
A couple pleasant tracks surrounded by so much useless nonsense that I have since thrown it away. Know what I really like? That Folk Implosion song from that awful Kids movie.

Reader Comments

flashsage@earthlink.net
Lou and the boys could have just shit on a slab of vinyl and it would have sounded just as good. How awful to see the bottom drop out on a great band. But maybe it's for the best. All good things must end.

chedzoy@ukonline.co.uk
erm...jasons songs were all/mostly better than lou's since bakesale. IMO.

Yes, you'd have to be CASHEWS to know them! Fuck wait a s

Remember lo-fi? Here it is again! Some of these songs are so poorly recorded and ultra-trebly that they'll literally sear the ears off your head, but boy oh boy after those last few albums it's such a treat to hear the true Sebadoh line-up again -- with all the noisy insanity, stoned humor and over-earnest sensitivity that comes with them. Jason gets four songs, Eric six, Lou eight, and the whole band collaborates on two other originals and a Hasil Adkins cover. Best of all, only five of the 21 songs exceed the 2:30 mark!

Aside from faithful versions of already-brilliant album tracks ("Happily Divided," "Healthy Sick," "Limb By Limb"), CD highlights include non-grunge versions of SYHOTPR's "Cry Sis" and "Mean Distance"; two of Jason's fuzziest and most hypnotic compositions ever (angry brooder "Let The Day Have Its Way" and harmonics-heavy "Indeed You Are"); a pair of wonderfully noisy Eric punk rockers (growly "Visibly Wasted" and instrumental "Wake And Bake"); and a couple of complete disasters that accurately demonstrate the hilarious anarchy that drove the band during their peak period (a horrendous cowpunk take on "Chicken Walk," and a version of "Cheapshot" that falls into disarray about six times during its 91 seconds).

"Hay asshole," you're wondering. "What about Lou? This is Lou's band. How come you didn't include him in your highlights?" Because aside from the tunes you already know, most of his contributed material is a blight not only on the disc but on humanity as a whole. What else could you expect from a guy who has already released everything he's ever muttered into a tape recorder (see Sentridoh, Folk Implosion, New Folk Implosion and the records released under his own name)? All he had left in the toilet were a few ghastly singer-songwriter cornballs ("All That I Could" and "Broken Love" may be the most cloying, vomitous 'sincere' songs ever composed) and irritating novelty throwaways ("Sebadough!" is a slide guitar mess, and "MEE-YOW" is far, far worse). It's actually kind of a miracle that he waited this long to release the honestly-good tough strummer "Smaller Yard." Had the tape fallen behind his dresser or something?

Do whatever you can to find a copy of Wade Through The Boggs, particularly as Christmas is right around the corner outside. But remember - don't call it a cumstain! (because maybe my nose just ran)