''Harmacy'' is the sixth album by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Sebadoh Sebadoh () is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for his ...

. It was released by

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

in 1996. It is the second and final Sebadoh album to feature drummer

Bob Fay Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Bob (surname) * Bob (dog), a dog that received the Dickin Medal for bravery in World War II *Bob th ...

, who replaced founding member

Eric Gaffney Eric Gaffney (born December 25, 1967, in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an American songwriter and recording artist, and has been home recording on cassette since 1981. An active participant in the Western Mass hardcore scene, in 1983 he founded ...

in 1994. The album cover features a photograph of a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

Cashel Cashel (an Anglicised form of the Irish language word ''Caiseal'', meaning "stone fort") may refer to: Places in Ireland *Cashel, County Tipperary **The Rock of Cashel, an ancient, hilltop fortress complex for which Cashel is named ** Archbishop ...

, Ireland, taken by band member

Jason Loewenstein Jason Loewenstein (born July 20, 1971) is an American alternative rock singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and a member of the indie-rock bands Sebadoh, The Fiery Furnaces, and Circle of Buzzards. He grew up in Northampton, Ma ...

on tour. The missing "P" gave the album its title.

Music

As with its predecessor, ''

Bakesale ''Bakesale'' is the fifth album by American indie rock band Sebadoh, released by Sub Pop in 1994. It was the first Sebadoh album released following the departure of founding member, Eric Gaffney, though he did drum on four of the album's tracks ...

'', the songwriting on ''Harmacy'' was handled primarily by Loewenstein and founding member

Lou Barlow Louis Knox Barlow (born July 17, 1966) is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock ...

, with Fay contributing the lone track, "Sforzando!", and the band covering "I Smell a Rat" by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band The Bags. Their cover was featured on the soundtrack for the 1998 American comedy-thriller film '' Homegrown''. Like ''Bakesale'', the album was a "(relatively) polished production", and featured pervasive use of electric guitars and longer song structures, marking a clear departure from the band's

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

, often acoustic earlier albums like their release, ''

Sebadoh III ''III'' (or ''Sebadoh III'') is the third album by the American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released by Homestead Records in 1991. ''III'' was the first full length Sebadoh album to feature Jason Loewenstein, who joined the band's two found ...

'' (1991). Solo acoustic versions of "On Fire" and " Willing to Wait" were released prior to the album's release, on the 1994 " Rebound" single and the 1995 compilation '' Rare on Air, Volume 2: KCRW Live'', respectively.

Reception

Released in the wake of Barlow's

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hit, "

Natural One "Natural One" is a song by the band The Folk Implosion. Background The song was written by Folk Implosion members Lou Barlow and John H. Davis, along with producer Wally Gagel. There was also an '' a capella'' version of this song Release I ...

", with his band

The Folk Implosion The Folk Implosion is an American band founded in the early 1990s by Lou Barlow and John Davis. It was initially a side-project started by Barlow to explore different territory than that which was being canvassed with his primary band at the tim ...

, ''Harmacy'' became Sebadoh's first charting album in the U.S., expanding on the success of ''Bakesale'', and yielding the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

hit, "

Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

". The album was well received by critics, albeit less so than ''Bakesale''. Stephen Thompson of ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...

's'' ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' wrote that ''Harmacy'' "doesn't have ''Bakesale''s considerable staying power as a whole, but the strong balance of soft pop songs ("Too Pure", "Perfect Way", the elegant pop ballad " Willing to Wait") and abrasively punky rock songs ("Love To Fight", "Mind Reader", "Can't Give Up") still holds together somehow." ''Harmacy'' was included on several year-end lists in 1996, including ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' "Ten Best Albums" (#8), the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

''s " Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll" (#36), and the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''s critics' poll (#38).

Proposed reissue

The album was supposed to be reissued in 2011, along with ''Bakesale'', but never was. In a 2012 interview with ''blurredvisionary'', Barlow explained, " ey wanted me to eissue ''Harmacy''and I absolutely don’t want to pursue it at all. I just can’t get excited about that record...I think anyone can find it and I don’t know how we could improve upon it unless we included the b-sides from that time, but the b-sides we did from that time I don’t know they were that great."

Track listing

#" On Fire" (Barlow) – 3:36 #" Prince-S" (Loewenstein) – 2:52 #"

" (Barlow) – 2:46 #"Nothing Like You" (Loewenstein) – 3:09 #"Crystal Gypsy" (Loewenstein) – 1:29 #" Beauty of the Ride" (Barlow) – 2:48 #"Mind Reader" (Loewenstein) – 1:50 #"Sforzando!" (Fay) – 3:30 #" Willing to Wait" (Barlow) – 3:32 #"Hillbilly II" (Loewenstein) – 1:59 #"Zone Doubt" (Loewenstein) – 2:18 #"Too Pure" (Barlow) – 3:46 #"Worst Thing" (Loewenstein) – 2:55 #"Love to Fight" (Loewenstein) – 0:54 #"Perfect Way" (Barlow) – 2:49 #"Can't Give Up" (Loewenstein) – 2:02 #"Open Ended" (Barlow) – 3:28 #"Weed Against Speed" (Barlow) – 2:55 #"I Smell a Rat" (Jon Hardy, Jim Janota, Crispin Wood) – 1:34

Personnel

– lead vocals (tracks 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18), guitar (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18), bass (tracks 2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16), mellotron (tracks 9, 12, 17), synthesizer (track 1) *

– lead vocals (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16), guitar (tracks 2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16), bass (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 17), drums (tracks 8, 15, 18, 19) *Bob Fay – drums (tracks 1-7, 9-14, 16, 17), bass (tracks 8, 15, 18), lead vocals (track 19) Additional personnel *Mark Perretta – lead guitar and bass (track 19) *

Wally Gagel Wally Gagel is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. Credits include: Family of the Year, Elliphant, Blondfire, Zella Day, Best Coast, Cold War Kids, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, New Order ...

– engineer (tracks 3, 6, 10, 11, 14, 17), mixing (tracks 3, 6, 10, 11, 14) *Eric Masunaga – engineer (tracks 2, 7, 8, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19), mixing (tracks 2, 8, 13, 15, 18, 19) *Tim O'Heir – engineer (tracks 1, 3-6, 9-12, 14, 17), mixing (tracks 1, 3-6, 9-11, 14, 17) *

Bryce Goggin Bryce Goggin is an American record producer and sound engineer. His career began in the early 1990s, working at Baby Monster Studios. He first received note for mixing the album '' Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'' by Pavement. He has since worked wit ...

– mixing (tracks 7, 12, 16) * Charles Peterson – photography

Charts

Album

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmacy 1996 albums Sebadoh albums Sub Pop albums Domino Recording Company albums City Slang albums