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Sebadoh () is an 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 formed in 1986 in
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...
, by
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 ...
and
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 multi-instrumentalist
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 ...
completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for his songwriting when
J. Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. (born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist ...
gradually took over creative control of Dinosaur Jr., in which Barlow plays bass guitar. Along with such bands as Pavement,
Beat Happening Beat Happening was an American indie pop band formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-f ...
and
Guided by Voices Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted o ...
, Sebadoh helped pioneer a
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 ...
style of
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 ...
characterized by low-fidelity recording techniques that employed four-track
cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...
machines. The band's early output, such as '' The Freed Man'' and ''
Weed Forestin' ''Weed Forestin'' is an album by the American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was originally self-released by Barlow on cassette in 1987, under the Sentridoh name, the solo home-recording project of American rock musician and Sebadoh member Lou Barl ...
'' (both released 1990), as well as ''
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), was typical of this style. Following the release of '' Bubble & Scrape'' in 1993, Gaffney left the band. His replacement and erstwhile stand-in, Bob Fay, appeared on ''
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 ...
'' (1994) and ''
Harmacy ''Harmacy'' is the sixth album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released by Sub Pop in 1996. It is the second and final Sebadoh album to feature drummer Bob Fay, who replaced founding member Eric Gaffney in 1994. The album cover ...
'' (1996), but was fired before the sessions for the band's major label release '' The Sebadoh '' (1999), featuring drummer Russ Pollard. The band then went on a 14-year recording hiatus, during which time members pursued other projects while occasionally touring as Sebadoh. The group, fronted by Barlow and now featuring drummer Bob D'Amico, returned in 2012 with the ''
Secret EP ''Secret EP'' is an EP by the American indie rock band Sebadoh, released on July 23, 2012. The EP was not released on a label and was made available for digital download on the online music store Bandcamp. The EP was recorded from March to July ...
'' and, in 2013, a full-length album titled ''
Defend Yourself ''Defend Yourself'' is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. It is the band's first album in fourteen years, since 1999's '' The Sebadoh''. The album was released on September 16, 2013 via Domino in the United Kingdom and ...
'', which were both self-recorded. The album '' Act Surprised'' followed in 2019.


History

Lou Barlow was the bass player for alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. (originally Dinosaur) in the 1980s. While both Barlow and leader
J Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. (born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist a ...
wrote songs, Mascis' material dominated the group's output because Barlow was intimidated by the guitarist's songwriting efforts. Barlow spent progressively more time recording his own songs at home. Barlow and
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 ...
released the ''
Weed Forestin' ''Weed Forestin'' is an album by the American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was originally self-released by Barlow on cassette in 1987, under the Sentridoh name, the solo home-recording project of American rock musician and Sebadoh member Lou Barl ...
'' cassette in 1987 on
Homestead Records Homestead Records was a Long Island, New York–based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading that operated from 1983 to 1996. While the record label was renowned for releasing work of artists such as Sonic Youth, Big Black, a ...
under the name Sebadoh, which was a
nonsense word In linguistics, a nonce word—also called an occasionalism—is any word (lexeme), or any sequence of sounds or letters, created for a single occasion or utterance but not otherwise understood or recognized as a word in a given languag ...
Barlow often muttered in his recordings. Both Barlow and Gaffney contributed songs to '' The Freed Man'' (1988) cassette. Homestead Records head
Gerard Cosloy Gerard Cosloy (born 1964) is an American music industry executive. Biography Cosloy was raised in Wayland, Massachusetts, a western suburb of Boston. While he was in high school, he became involved in the local hardcore punk scene, put together ...
heard the cassette release of ''The Freed Man'' and released it as a full-length album on Homestead in 1989. Soon after the cassette's release Barlow was kicked out of Dinosaur Jr. Over time Sebadoh's releases became a way for Barlow to address the issues of control that manifested as the tension in and his ejection from Dinosaur Jr; Barlow said "I got a lot of hatred out just by writing those songs."
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 ...
joined in summer 1989, the first release that he played on being the "Gimme Indie Rock" single in 1991. Only ten 'band' shows were performed throughout Western Massachusetts, Boston, and New York over the period 1989–1990 before the third album, ''
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 ...
'', was released. After touring with Firehose in 1991, they signed to
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 ...
(
Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...
in the UK and
City Slang City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. History The independent music label City Slang was founded in 1990 as a European outpost for American indie rock. Thirty years later, the imprint represents a diverse roster o ...
in Germany) in 1992, and released the two EPs '' Rocking the Forest'' and '' Sebadoh vs. Helmet'' just two months apart. These EPs had their track listings truncated and shuffled around and made into the American full-length release '' Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock''. Their fourth album '' Bubble & Scrape'' was released in April 1993. The same year, the band's "Soul and Fire" EP humorously described the band's musical goal as "driving dozens of college-age lemmings off the cliff of limited imagination." Following '' Bubble & Scrape'' (1993) Gaffney left the band. Gaffney has stated that he left Sebadoh "because I felt like it" and went on to explain that: "I wanted to start a band where I was the songwriter/guitar player and so I did. I also had the garage practice space and booked all our early shows. This was summer 1989, when The Freed Man LP was released on Homestead was when I called those guys on the phone to ask if they wanted to start a band, met with dead silence. Me on the other end saying, “Are you still there?” I only started playing drums when the other guys wanted to play their songs because I didn’t want to learn bass lines, and drums are my first instrument. Four years later I let the whole thing walk away from me. It was like The Blob—you want to just run out of the theater! (lest you be consumed by “The Blob.”)." Barlow has stated that the mood in the band upon Gaffney's departure was "euphoric," explaining that: "Eric was a difficult guy. He was really struggling with the band becoming more popular; he was really struggling with sharing the spotlight with me. He’s an absolute leader, and deserves a spotlight of his own, but I had kind of forced him into this band where he and I were going to be trading off, thinking that was a really great idea. Eric Gaffney did not want to be doing that. Eric Gaffney wanted to be front and center—which is great, I mean, I believed in him. I’m an Eric Gaffney fan, that’s why I was playing in a band with him, but Eric Gaffney was not a Lou Barlow fan. So him leaving the band was awesome. All of this resistance just disappeared for a while, and it was really nice." Gaffney's replacement, Bob Fay, appeared on ''
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 ...
'' (1994) and the follow-up ''
Harmacy ''Harmacy'' is the sixth album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released by Sub Pop in 1996. It is the second and final Sebadoh album to feature drummer Bob Fay, who replaced founding member Eric Gaffney in 1994. The album cover ...
'' in 1996. Gaffney had quit the band three times between 1990 and 1993, being replaced each time by Fay. Fay recorded and toured with the band during those years, performing on half the tracks of '' Rocking the Forest'', including the Fay composition "Mind Meld," and two tracks on '' Sebadoh vs. Helmet'', whose cover image is a photograph of Fay. Fay was fired before the sessions for ''
The Sebadoh ''The Sebadoh'' is the seventh studio album by the indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released in 1999 on Sire Records. The album is the group's first and only major label release to date. ''The Sebadoh'' is the only Sebadoh album with drummer Ru ...
'' (1999) and replaced by Russ Pollard, a friend of Loewenstein's from Louisville. The band went on a tour to promote this album, including a stop in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
in March. The band then went on hiatus, with Barlow concentrating on his other project, 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 ...
, and Loewenstein working on material for his debut solo album ''At Sixes and Sevens'', released in 2002. The two reunited to play concerts in late 2003 and early 2004. In March 2007, the "Sebadoh Classic" lineup of Barlow, Gaffney and Loewenstein went on tour together for the first time in fourteen years. This coincided with a new series of reissues which repackaged some of the early albums with extra discs of unreleased tracks. First came a reissue of ''
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 ...
'', then '' The Freed Man'', and '' Bubble & Scrape''. The reunion tour continued into 2008, and in May included a live performance of '' Bubble & Scrape'' (1993) in its entirety as part of the
All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...
curated Don't Look Back series at London's Koko venue. In 2011, Sebadoh toured in support of reissues for their ''Bakesale'' and ''Harmacy'' albums. Though ''Bakesale'' was reissued on time, as of June 2015, ''Harmacy'' has still not been reissued. Taking the place of Gaffney on drums was Bob D'Amico, who plays with Loewenstein in both Circle of Buzzards and
the Fiery Furnaces The Fiery Furnaces are an American indie rock band, formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York.. - ''In 2000 they moved Brooklyn... and began playing as the Fiery Furnaces late in the year''. - Allmusic The band's primary members are Matthew and El ...
. In March 2012, Lou Barlow reissued the early recordings of ''Weed Forrestin on the Sebadoh bandcamp, available in a digital download, double cd, vinyl, and deluxe edition with the ''Child of the Apocalypse'' sessions as a cassette tape. Fifty copies of "Weed Forrestin" came as a surprise bonus with purchases of the limited edition re-release of Dinosaur Jr.'s first three albums in a cassette boxed set released by Joyful Noise in 2012. They were chosen by
Jeff Mangum Jeffrey Nye Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Comp ...
of
Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed by Jeff Mangum in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1989. They were active until 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psy ...
to perform at the
All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...
festival that he curated in March 2012 in Minehead, England. In July 2012, Sebadoh released ''
Secret EP ''Secret EP'' is an EP by the American indie rock band Sebadoh, released on July 23, 2012. The EP was not released on a label and was made available for digital download on the online music store Bandcamp. The EP was recorded from March to July ...
'' on the Sebadoh bandcamp, available in a digital download. CD copies were only available at the shows of their 2012 tour. In June 2013, Joyful Noise released it on vinyl. Their eighth studio album, ''
Defend Yourself ''Defend Yourself'' is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. It is the band's first album in fourteen years, since 1999's '' The Sebadoh''. The album was released on September 16, 2013 via Domino in the United Kingdom and ...
'', came out on Joyful Noise Recordings on September 17, 2013. It debuted at No. 1 on the "New Alternative Artists" Billboard chart, since the band had been together for roughly 27 years at that point in time. On March 1, 2019, the band announced that their ninth studio album ''Act Surprised'' will be released on May 24, 2019, via
Dangerbird Records Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of ...
. The same day the first single off the album, "Celebrate the Void" was released.


Style

According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of ''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
'', "Sebadoh embraced intentionally raw and unsophisticated home recording as the element that tied together their self-conscious sentimental pop with their noisy experimentalism." Lou Barlow's vocals have been described as "gloomy but tuneful."


Members


Current members

*
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 ...
– vocals, guitar, bass (1986–present) *
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 ...
– vocals, bass, drums, guitar (1989–present) * Bob D'Amico – drums, percussion (2011–present)


Former members

*
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 ...
– vocals, drums, guitar (1986–1994, 2007–2011) * Bob Fay – drums, vocals (1994–1998) * Russell Pollard – drums (1998–2000)


Timeline


Discography


Studio albums

*'' The Freed Man'' (1989) *''
Weed Forestin' ''Weed Forestin'' is an album by the American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was originally self-released by Barlow on cassette in 1987, under the Sentridoh name, the solo home-recording project of American rock musician and Sebadoh member Lou Barl ...
'' (1990) *''
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) *'' Bubble & Scrape'' (1993) *''
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 ...
'' (1994) *''
Harmacy ''Harmacy'' is the sixth album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released by Sub Pop in 1996. It is the second and final Sebadoh album to feature drummer Bob Fay, who replaced founding member Eric Gaffney in 1994. The album cover ...
'' (1996) *''
The Sebadoh ''The Sebadoh'' is the seventh studio album by the indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released in 1999 on Sire Records. The album is the group's first and only major label release to date. ''The Sebadoh'' is the only Sebadoh album with drummer Ru ...
'' (1999) * ''
Defend Yourself ''Defend Yourself'' is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. It is the band's first album in fourteen years, since 1999's '' The Sebadoh''. The album was released on September 16, 2013 via Domino in the United Kingdom and ...
'' (2013) * '' Act Surprised'' (2019)


Compilation albums

*'' The Freed Weed'' (1990) *'' Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock'' (1992) *'' Wade Through the Boggs'' (2007)


Bibliography

* Azerrad, Michael. ''
Our Band Could Be Your Life ''Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991'' is a book by Michael Azerrad. It chronicles the careers of several underground rock bands who, while finding little or no mainstream success, were hugely ...
''. New York: Little, Brown, 2001.


References


External links


Sebadoh website
* *
Jason Loewenstein websiteJoyful Noise Recordings"Skull" music video (from ''Bakesale'')Jason Loewenstein interview February 1, 2011Interview with Lou Barlow & Murph (Dinosaur Jr.) September 9, 2009

Interview with Lou Barlow
(via Talk Rock To Me) August 17, 2012 {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Massachusetts Westfield, Massachusetts Lo-fi music groups Homestead Records artists Sub Pop artists Musical groups established in 1986 Domino Recording Company artists Flying Nun Records artists 1986 establishments in Massachusetts City Slang artists Dangerbird Records artists