Un-Natural One
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Like a swarm of gnats you just cant shake, things aren't quite right for Lou Barlow.
Stop-start. Stop-start. Stop-start. Pieces of musical brilliance, followed by an apology. Extended guitar-tuning sessions, followed by an apology. To date, this brand of neurosis has epitomized the onstage career of the revered indie-rocker, best known for his work in Sebadoh -- possibly the definitive indie band of the '90s -- and Dinosaur Jr., likely the definitive indie band of the late '80s. That's why it's so shocking to hear the newest effort from Barlow's Folk Implosion project. Barlow and partner John Davis have picked up where they left off on the 1995 surprise radio hit "Natural One," from the "Kids" soundtrack.
One Part Lullaby, released last year by Interscope, is a relatively slick excursion into booming beats and cut-and-paste studio elements, forming a well-rounded, up-tempo mix. The album is worlds away from early Sebadoh material, as striking for its abrasive musical schizophrenia as it is for Barlow's intensely personal, self-doubt-driven musical style. You'd think Barlow has finally mellowed out with age.
"No, not at all," says Barlow from the Los Angeles home he relocated to from Boston two years ago. "It's almost like when the music was more frantic and uptight sounding, I was probably more laid-back then. We did most of the record here in my house, and we had just moved here. I lived and breathed recording for almost two months in my house. It was a pretty intense experience. The feel of the songs is almost the way that [Davis and I] were sort of calming ourselves down in the midst of a lot of changes going on around us, changes going on between us as a duo, and as friends, too."
One can also hear the calming influence of Barlow's move from New England, where he'd lived his whole life, to the California sprawl. On "Easy L.A." Barlow's vocals run through a voicebox modulator, forming what sounds like mellow pop counterpoint to Tupac's "California" ("Easy L.A. / It's another beautiful day / Cold like the desert at night"). "I really liked Boston," Barlow explains. "We just didn't have any space. I didn't have any space to play. In Boston, I would have to go to these really dingy practice spaces to play loud, and I always felt like people were listening in when I was trying to make 4-track stuff at home. I was just a little paranoid, I guess."
It's no surprise hearing Barlow admit to paranoia, having been privy to a number of his onstage episodes of nervous insecurity, where his exasperating antics are somewhat akin to those of an overly apologetic girlfriend. What is surprising is that Barlow was less than comfortable with his working conditions in the Northeast.
With his early acoustic work and primitive recording techniques in Sebadoh, Barlow helped usher in a lo-fi revolution of sorts, at least in indie-rock circles. Hailed as the king of lo-fi, Barlow went on to issue a veritable army of limited-run 7-inches and cassette-only releases throughout the '90s under a number of monikers, which by 1994 included the Folk Implosion. "Pretty much anything I record, I kind of consider [the] possibility of releasing it," says Barlow. "I've always sort of felt that way, that the way that anything is recorded is enough, if you think it is. If you want to make it better, maybe you should go into the studio."
Barlow started working with Davis in Boston in 1994 on a project that was both more low-key and, by nature, more of a collaborative affair than Sebadoh, which has always been more or less a showcase for the songs of the individual band members.
In 1995 the duo hit upon a successful formula of big beat experiments and pop hooks that propelled "Natural One" from the "Kids" soundtrack into a Top 40 single. After a hesitant step with the 1997 album "Dare To Be Surprised," released on the small independent Communion label because Barlow felt the duo "didn't think we were ready to do the big corporate rock thing," the focus was on the Folk Implosion's proper major-label debut. The result is a cozy upbeat sojourn that reveals a mellower, gentler Barlow.
Still, don't expect the Folk Implosion live act to go off without a hitch or three. The Folk Implosion's short three-week U.S. tour will be a Barlow-only affair, with studio rat Davis remaining behind in Boston as Lou tries to interpret "One Part Lullaby" material with only himself, an acoustic guitar and some backing tape.
"I'm not using the stuff that we recorded," explains Barlow. "I'm trying to make all-new samples, and all-new guitar parts and bass parts and stuff like that. It's like trying to distill the songs down to 4-track, it's really difficult. I'll still have beats, but not the crazy big beats. I'm sequencing them together, trying to get them to swing a little bit, but it's be a really different feel. I don't know. I think I'm going to do some work on it every day until the first show until I get to the point where I'm gonna feel confident about it," he says.
As if Barlow didn't have enough on his plate already, Sebadoh is rumored to have parted company with longtime label Sub Pop. Where, if anywhere, the band will end up next is anybody's guess.
MICHAEL CHAMY |