Sebadoh

Certain Songs #2177: Sebadoh – “Flame”

September 2, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Sebadoh
Year: 1999

. . .

At least partially because Lou Barlow was now also working on Folk Implosion records was three more years before we got another Sebadoh album, 1999’s The Sebadoh. And not only was The Sebadoh not up to the standards of the previous two records, it was the last record by Sebadoh for well over a decade. So they maybe they knew it was time to pack it in for awhile.

That said, The Sebadoh had one undeniably great song: the droning, psychedelic “Flame,” which didn’t sound like anything else on the record.

Certain Songs #2176: Sebadoh – “Willing to Wait”

September 1, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Harmacy
Year: 1996

. . .

During the two-year period in between Bakesale and its follow-up, 1996’s Harmacy, Lou Barlow had a hit single. Not with Sebadoh, of course, but rather, his side project Folk Implosion inexplicably hit the top 30 with “Natural One,” — from the soundtrack of a film that could never get made today, Kids — which was slightly funky and groovy, but I never could hear the mass appeal of it.

And maybe that was why Harmacy was the most fussed-over Sebadoh record yet. I mean, by indie standards, of course: they were never going to be Massive Attack or Madonna. Luckily, Barlow was still writing high-quality songs, like “On Fire,” “Ocean,” and the utterly gorgeous ballad, “Willing to Wait,” which is on the short list of Prettiest Songs Ever Recorded, Gimme Indie Rock Division.

Certain Songs #2175: Sebadoh – “Skull”

August 31, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Bakesale
Year: 1994

. . .

Eventually — and around the same time, honestly — Lou Barlow figured it out just like Robert Pollard (sorta) did: you can still make a weird-sounding lo-fi album be consistently great by focusing on the songs, not the the goofarounds.

And so, Bakesale was by far the most consistent album Sebadoh had ever done, and that was probably because co-founder Eric Gaffney had left and bassist Eric Lowenstein’s songs were more in line with Barlow’s than Gaffney’s ever were. Barlow was never going to fully lockdown the songwriting, because that was at least part of why he left Dinosaur Jr in the first place (and to be sure, he’s had a pair of songs on all five of their great 21st century reunion albums), but his songs were still the reason to put on Bakesale. Or at least my reason.

Certain Songs #2174: Sebadoh – “Brand New Love”

August 30, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock
Year: 1992

. . .

To be honest, I’ve always had a hard time making heads or tails out of anything that Sebadoh did prior to 1994’s Bakesale. In theory, I approve of the prolific, lo-fi approach that Lou Barlow and his partners in crime took towards recording and releasing their music. But like the earliest Guided by Voices records, the chaff-to-wheat ratio was way too high.

Therefore, when I declare that “Brand New Love” is my favorite song from that early period, then please know that I’ve not come close to hearing all of the dozens of songs Lou Barlow released in that period. Especially since I came to it second-hand: I first heard “Brand New Love” via the cover which closed out Superchunk’s utterly dynamite early singles compilation, Tossing Seeds (which has at least three future Certain songs: the glorious “Garlic,” the hilarious “Slack Motherfucker” and their cover of the ubiquitous “Train From Kansas City.”