Sebadoh announce long awaited return to Australia Some bands can argue
that they’re seminal, and some have no need to say anything, letting
their name speak for itself. Sebadoh must fit in to the latter
category. Over five years since their last Australian tour, they’re
finally dragging their lo-fi slacker genius back to our shores. With
the release this year of their acclaimed return to form album Act
Surprised , their first since 2013’s Defend Yourself, the band have
returned to the genius that made them an essential part of every right
thinking person’s record collection. On leaving Dinosaur Jr in 1988
and teaming up with old mate Eric Gaffney, Lou Barlow almost invented
a new genre in rock n’ roll, signing to the seminal Seattle label
Sub Pop and releasing a couple of cassette only releases that are much
sought after collector’s items. Despite several line-up changes
Sebadoh effectively became an outlet for Barlow’s creative efforts
outside of Dinosaur Jr. As the obligatory hiatus for the first part of
the 2000s kept fans wondering if they’d seen the last of them, 2007
saw Sebadoh reform to much acclaim and the promise of new recordings.
That promise has now led to a second post-reformation recording, with
Barlow taking time off from Dinosaur Jr to regroup with Jason
Loewenstein and Bob D’Amico to track 15 new songs last year, with
Justin Pizzoferrato, the engineer behind many Dinosaur Jr albums at
the helm. The studio results see Loewenstein taking the lead on his
more lo-fi style musings paired against his co-conspirator’s folkier
style offerings, with the band actually spending more time working on
this album than many of their previous minimalist efforts. “In the
past,” says Barlow, “we would write in the studio and the songs
would develop on the road.“ This time, we did some rehearsals a few
weeks before recording,” adds Loewenstein, “which we almost never
do. So we got a chance to not use the first take and took time to
finesse things, which we also don’t usually do, so that was a good
step.” For their first tour down under in almost six years, with a
new album under their belts and their lo-fi garage slacker pop
offering the blueprint for many acts worldwide, this is a rare chance
for Australian fans to enjoy their seminal sound live. Friday January
31 – Crowbar, Sydney
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01/02/2020 Last update