Sebadoh - Bakesale
by Richard Lewis
published: 21 / 2 / 2011
Label:
Select Label
Format: N/A
intro
Richard Lewis examines ex-Dinosaur Jr. guitarist Lou Barlow's band Sebadoh's 1994 fourth album, 'Bakesale'
In 1994, just as Britpop was going interstellar, Sebadoh secured a UK Top 40 placing and much praise for the skewed charms of 'Bakesale', their fourth long-player. Considering the music press were fixated with the sounds emanating from Camden, Lou Barlow’s outfit along with fellow lo-fi luminaries Pavement were remarkably successful in keeping the US indie rock flame alight in the late nineties. Wrapped in a defiantly unglamorous sleeve, a photo of a toddler (a one-year old Lou Barlow) staring down curiously into a toilet, as opposed to swimming to the surface of a pool as on the cover of Nirvana’s 'Nevermind', 'Bakesale' proved to be the cover star’s calling card. On a far more modest scale than Sub Pop’s most famous sons, in a few years hence Barlow was to have his own flirtation with mainstream success, scoring a sizeable hit with side-project Folk Implosion along with Sebadoh playing a memorably scabrous live version of ‘Flame’ on 'Top of the Pops'. Here, Tim O’Heir’s production reins in the wayward acoustic manoeuvres of the band’s earlier work, bringing greater cohesion to the songs. As a result of this and the live sounding recordings, the album seemingly hasn’t dated since its initial release. Riddled with post-teenage angst without succumbing to the navel-gazing excesses of Alice in Chains say, Lou Barlow’s awkward temperament is expertly mimicked by his music, full of pregnant pauses, uneasy vocals and oscillating time signatures. Also able to power along efficiently when the song demanded it, opener ‘License to Confuse’, driven by an infectious unison guitar-bass riff, makes the three piece sound remarkably forthright. Split sixty-forty between Lou’s compositions and tracks by bassist Jason Lowenstein, ‘Careful’ and ‘Not Too Amused’ proves Lowenstein had the chops to pen his own tracks, which hinge on his abrasive lead-basslines. With his unusually easy on the ear voice, Barlow’s mainstream dalliance with the Folk Implosion becomes clearer as his plaintive vocals carry a tune more effectively than, say the drunken melodicism of Pavement’s Steve Malkmus. His lyrical preoccupations meanwhile mainly concern love’s various triumphs and pitfalls, a subject close to the songwriter’s heart, as he surely ranks as one of the only musicians unfortunate enough to have his wife run off with his divorce lawyer. (They later reconciled.) ‘Not a Friend’, prowling along like late-period Sonic Youth on their quieter tracks, displays the band’s sure grasp of dynamics, alternating between calm, resigned verses and tenser passages, allowing Barlow’s reflective lyrics (“I’m not sure if I trust you/I’m not sure if I trust myself”) ample room. ‘Shit Soup’, despite the willfully difficult title is compellingly tuneful, as is superb second single ‘Skull’ and the emotional soul-baring of ‘Rebound.’ That’s not to say there isn’t some scribble present however - bad metal parody ‘Give Up’ sounds like a track dashed off to possibly fill up a B-side, along with several undistinguished tracks towards the end of proceedings. Clocking in at a compact forty-two minutes with mellow closer, ‘Together or Alone’,(“I know romance isn’t everything/But I’m obsessing all the same”) the longest track on the LP at four minutes, a virtual epic by US indie rock standards, the song proves to be scruffy but heartfelt, a quality that sums up this minor classic as a whole. 'Bakesale' will be reissued by Domino Records on the 4th April.
Track Listing:-
Picture Gallery:-
interviews |
Interview (2013) |
Paul Waller talks to Sebadoh co-founder and drummer Eric Gaffney about his years in the band, his veganism and recent split single with Alasadir Roberts which he has released on new label, Happy Soul Records |
live reviews |
KOKO, London, 7/5/2008 |
Sebadoh are not known for being a dynamic live force, but Mark Rowland finds the reformed American indie rockers compelling at a Don't Look Back gig at the KOKO in London in which they revisited their 1993 album, 'Bubble and Scrape' |
features |
Ten Songs That Made Me Love... (2014) |
In our series, in which our writers write about ten songs that made them love a favourite band or artist, Mark Rowland reflects on his favourite songs by the American alternative rockers Sebadoh |
reviews |
Act Surprised (2019) |
Driven by a devil-may-care zeal, this first Sebadoh for Fire Records after a long association with Domino Records, finds the threesome in a rejuvenated yet far looser place |
The Freed Man (2007) |
Iii (2006) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
James Whild Lea - Interview
previous editions
Microdisney - The Clock Comes Down the StairsHeavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl EP
Michael Lindsay Hogg - Interview
World Party - Interview
Ain't That Always The Way - Alan Horne After The Sound of Young Scotland 2
Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
Dwina Gibb - Interview
Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
Barrie Barlow - Interview
World Party - Interview with Karl Wallinger
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Banter - Heroes
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart