From his modesty to his laid-back attitude, Lou Barlow has
refused to let the fact he is often referred to as the
“prince of lo-fi rock” influence his personality.
Barlow and Jason Loewenstein, two original members of the group
Sebadoh, will play a show at the Troubadour on Thursday on the West
Coast leg of their reunion tour. One of the quintessential indie
rock bands of the 1990s, Sebadoh was at the forefront of a musical
movement attributed with the birth of rock subgenres such as lo-fi
and emo.
The group formed in 1988 as a side project between Barlow and
Eric Gaffney, who eventually added Loewenstein. The trio was less a
true band than a collective of songwriters, and in late 1993
Gaffney was replaced by drummer Bob Fay, who was later replaced by
Russell Pollard. Throughout Sebadoh’s recording run, which
ended in 1999, Barlow and Loewenstein would remain the two
constants in the band’s music.
Five years later, Barlow and Loewenstein have linked up in order
to revisit their rich history and share the stage once more.
“We’re pretty relaxed at this point; we really have
nothing to lose. We’re not promoting anything or out to prove
ourselves. I’m just enjoying playing the same songs again and
traveling around. It’s been a really simple setup, with a lot
of old fans showing up,” Barlow said. “I’m just
concerned with people coming to the shows and buying a few of my
records. Our ambitions are modest.”
In recent years, indie rock has built on the traditions of bands
like Sebadoh, Pavement and Guided by Voices to reach impressive
levels of popular and critical success. Barlow, though, is not one
to take credit for it.
“When I was in Dinosaur Jr., we were just following in the
footsteps of bands like the Minutemen and Black Flag and the Meat
Puppets and Mission of Burma,” he said, referring to his
career before Sebadoh as a bassist with the influential
late-’80s alternative rock band. “I just think of this
as passing the torch.”
He went on to express his admiration for the present crop of
indie rock bands.
“There’s a lot of really amazing stuff going on
right now that I think is superior to what was going on in the
’90s,” he said.
In particular, Barlow sees similarities between Sebadoh and
current crossover successes The Shins and Death Cab For Cutie.
“They seem to be finding a similar level of popularity
that we once enjoyed; at one point, we were that indie band showing
up on MTV,” he said.
Barlow himself scored a surprise Top 40 hit in 1995 with side
project Folk Implosion’s “Natural One” for the
sound track to the film “Kids.” He also has another
solo record to be released in January, which he describes partly as
a continuation of his work with Sebadoh and a further-evolved
version of what he started with on four-tracks many years ago.
But whether it be his recording material, his live performances
or his musical ambitions, Barlow’s level-headedness has
become one of the calling cards of Sebadoh’s music.
“Our songs are simple and direct, and our approach is very
humble,” Barlow said. “There’s a lot of ourselves
in the music ““ we get to the point in a lot of ways.
That’s the one thing I think we’ve managed to do, is
just kind of get to the point. I’ve realized that’s
kind of rare. There are a lot of wasted words and notes in
music.”