Bubble And Scrape

Starts pretty good and just gets better and more interesting. This is perfect for fans of Polvo or the kind of obnoxious people who will tell you that the guitars in At The Drive In's Relationship of Command are out of tune with the air of someone who uncovered the hidden secrets of Rock'n'Roll. I am both of these people.

the list has finally paid off! finally, after all of the thes and 70s glam shite it has spewed out something i've never heard of and that i am bonafide enjoying listening to and will almost certainly listen to again and knowing how much of a sweat i am probably listen to the entire back catalogue. bonus points for the last track being as long as the rest of the album. i imagine this is what it must feel like for Gerry Mccain knowing full well he got away with it.

first song is the only good song.

I listened to this once and had the weird feeling that there might be something here that I like but at the same time I couldn't point to anything good about what I was hearing. Listened to it again and the weird feeling that I might like it was gone. Completely gone.

Vaguely familiar with this band. Did not like the album at first, but it grew on me and I kind of liked it by the end. There is a charm within the dourness.

I had a hard time connecting with most of the songs on this album. Nothing carried a tune really and the lyrics just disappeared.

Production: 8/20 Songwriting: 7/20 Innovation: 15/20 Presence of pure bangers: 0/20 Emotional response: 6/20 =36

Interesting, often atonal prog rock (?) wavered on it a lot. Cool at times and a chaotic at others

I see no reason why I needed to hear this album before I died. In fact, I'm probably more upset that I heard it before I died. That's an hour I could have spent listening to something good.

Seba don’t make me listen to this shite again

Cool stuff. Meat Puppets, Nirvana, Kurt Vile vibes

"Bubble & Scrape" is the fourth album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. Sebadoh is a band composed of three members (Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr. fame), Eric Gaffney and Jason Lowenstein) who all each write, sing and are capable of playing all the rock band instruments. No division of labor here. So, on this album, all three members contribute songs which tend to sound unique to the writer. It was the first album recordered entirely profession in a studio away from their previous lo-fi homemade approach. Oh, there's still roughness to the edges here, though, as styles range from 60's garage to punk to grunge to power pop. Stoner rock too by the way. The album opens with Barlow's "Soul and Fire." Heavy, clear and melodic guitar. Sort of grungy. "Saying goodbye was never so much fun." A great 90's indie song. We get a sense of what Gaffney brings to the table in "Telecosmic Alchemy." Tinny drumming. 60's garage and punk. A chugging guitar. This is a combo of Sonic Youth and Mudhoney. And, Lowenstein gives us "Sister." Harder, dustorted guitar. Punk. Screaming. We've gone back to Hüsker Dü "New Day Rising." "Emma Gone Wild" brings some pyschedelia with a scratching-sounding and groovy guitar. The highlight might be Barlow's "Homemade." A song that builds slowly. A soft-loud-soft dynamic. A great guitar solo. A droning guitar puts this to me in the stoner rock genre. This is a sound that Chicago's Red Red Meat would use in a few years after that on two fantastic albums. The album ends with three songs from each of band members. Gaffney's "Bouquet for a Siren" is harder, has driving guitars and a faster beat. I'm hearing The Meat Puppets now (I name dropping way too much by the way). Barlow's "Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)" is the album's only acoustic song. A love song of sorts. The Swirlies' Sean Carmody on backing vocals. Finally, the band ends it with a bang in Lowenstein's "Flood." Screaming. Punk. 60's garage rock. "Yeah, get in the car. We're going to ride with the flood tonight. Sometimes this album comes off as a compilation album with the distinctive sounds of each songwriter. For me, it worked fine as a whole, probably, since I can't recall hearing influences of so many different bands all of which I like. If you're a fan of early Dinosaur Jr. (and who isn't?), you'll like this. Their next album "Bakesale" is also recommended.

The first track is a decoy.

I thought I was all about 90s grunge, but I'd never heard of Sebadoh before. This album was one of the "low-fi" grunge records of the era that I missed. Was a neat album, but not something that will have the replay power of other grunge artists of the time. Definitely enjoyed it, but not enough to listen to over and over, thus the rating of 3.

This one was much more expansive and sprawling than the Sebadoh tracks I’d heard prior. There are definitely moments of fatigue given the length and instrumentation choices on the LP, but once I had an understanding of what was going on I felt this one hit a groove of its own. Shame the bonus tracks aren’t available on US Spotify, as the few I tracked down added some Interesting layers to the sounds the main LP had built up.

A lot of this album sounds out of tune with itself. I suspect that's the point and maybe goes hand in hand with being "lo-fi" but it's slightly jarring. Still, there were some good moments and in particular I liked the louder, rockier tracks which reminded me of Nirvana's "Bleach" album. I can hear similarities with other bands from the same era but it's hard to gauge how influential this album was and there isn't really much info about that on Wiki. Feels like the band might be more influential than any specific album, plus I'd say Dinosaur Jr were a more influential band than Sebadoh. 5.5/10

Ok. Call me picky but grunge era has a sound to it that is a little, just a hair, out of tune. But when the whole band is out of tune it sucks. Especially when they aren’t even out of tune together. Anyways, this is a no for me. Not my jam.

Intentionally dissonant poverty tier indie rock. This is the sort of music that's easy to imagine someone creating, and even easier for me to make satire of. Shocked that people seem to like this. Is this really an example of best-in-class 90s indie rock? Grating and unpleasant.

This fucking sucks. This really fucking sucks.

It's kinda my worst nightmare. It either gave me a headache last night or made my headache worse. The singing is whiney and bad, the instruments are uninteresting and bad. There's some screaming here too. The thing I hate too is that it doesn't feel like it's bad to prove a point or for artistic reasons, it just seems bad - like a band that would lose in the first round of the battle of the bands. They sound like a lot of the punk bands that I don't like because I hate their singers.

Ace. Like Beck falling down the stairs, pursued by Sonic Youth and Pavement. But ragged and interesting in its own right. Homemade is bloody great. A band I was aware of back when I was heavily into this stuff but never investigated beyond Not Too Amused. Now I will.

I remember seeing them live with my dad (I didn’t know who they were), and they didn’t disappoint. Even today, I listen to this and remember why there even was a “post-punk” sound, how powerful it could be, and I wish it had been less-defined by not being something else than it’s own honest grit.

A masterpiece of the lo-fi sub-genre of 90’s indie rock.

amazing find

Surprising choice (had expected Bakesale, one of the most popular records on 90s university campuses?) In the 90s Lou Barlow (as Sentridoh) and Prince were alike, releasing big selections of songs without proper quality control. However, as Sebadoh, on Sebadoh III - B&S - Bakesale ..certainly not the case. I like Bakesale (5) and Sebadoh III (5) a bit more, but rate B&S above Harmacy (4). Contributions of Gaffney and Loewenstein are as always uneven, but on B&S I would say things are generally fine. In fact, my favourite three songs are Soul and Fire (B), Happily Divided (L) and Think (B), but Bouquet for a Siren (G) and Sister (L) are also excellent. 4.5 (due to a couple of weak songs) -> 5

What an unexpected treat this album proved to be. I can't believe I hadn't heard of Sebadoh before, especially as I loved Dinosaur Jr back in the day. These guys personify the sound of early 90s Indie Rock. There's a little bit of everything on this album. Sure, it's hit & miss across its 17 tracks, but there's a charm to the raw sound & energy this band offers. The entire album sounds like it was recorded on a tape deck in somebody's garage, with each song getting recorded in just one take. No messing around. Guitars, drums, vocals - the essence of Rock. Nevertheless, these guys have produced some awesome tunes. "Soul and Fire" kicks off the record and immediately tells you that Sebadoh know how to write a song. "Emma Get Wild" is just an unapologetic, lovable riot. And "Homemade" is a masterpiece that should be heard by anybody who enjoys Indie Rock. I'll happily listen to this entire album again. Sebadoh have secured their place on my Spotify playlist. 👍👍

This is the kind of album I was hoping for from the list; a really good album from a band I have never heard of. I am shocked that the rating for this is so low. Going in I thought it would be unlistenable, but there are some really good indie / alt rock tunes on here. Sure, there is a little bit of noise rock and screaming at times, so I understand why people wouldn't like those songs, but in between those are some really solid songs. It is like Sonic Youth met Pavement met the Foo Fighters debut with a tad of the Pixies. This album is far from perfect and it does have some stinkers, so realistically it is closer to a 4, but I feel I need to give it a 5 out of spite.

I like a lot of these actually, some quite different moods between some songs. Never knew what to expect. I like the slightly off vocals, gives it that punk edge. Reminded me of Dinosaur Jr and surprise surprise, the person who produced their albums did this one afaik.

Como álbum sí creo que es muy bueno, pero son de esos que tengo que escuchar muchas veces hasta sentir que me gustó de verdad. No hubo una canción en particular que me atrapara, pero sí está bien hecho el disco.

Sebadoh might be the most inconsistent of the big names in the 90’s lo-fi scene. Their records seem to vacillate between excellent and frustrating frequently within a 40 minute runtime, at least in my experience. It’s due in no small part to having 3 vastly different songwriters. Where Guided By Voices and Pavement records tended to be more consistent - even in their variety of songs and experiments - Sebadoh records often feel exceedingly uncompromising and overly serious. Bakesale or Harmacy would probably have served as better introductions for the uninitiated (Go listen to “Beauty of the Ride” from Harmacy - excellent song), but Bubble & Scrape might be a more fitting representation of the band. The peaks and valleys are on full display here: the highs are high and the lows are low.

Over 200 albums in, and eventually I'll learn to stop pre-judging albums. I fully expected to hate this, but this was significantly better than I expected. Certainly a much different direction than I anticipated. In fact, the direction of the album varies so much from track to track. That can be a drawback in a lot of cases, but I dig it overall. It's the line between being weird for the sake of being weird and being weird to be genuinely interesting. This falls heavily on the positive side of that. Favorite track: Sacred Attention

It's very nice to listen to something that sounds "grunge" besides Nirvana or Pearl Jam, but also has many experimental songs with a kind of metal that is good even not understanding everything. In short, it was good to know this album, even not being the best one on this list until now. Probably, I will listen to it again someday...

“Bubble & Scrape” is one of a few records here that I avoided on release, probably because I’d heard they were soft and back then all I wanted was hard. Yet it feels familiar and brings nostalgia; the sound’s an archetype, one I could place and probably attribute blind despite having never consciously listening to Sebadoh apart from the likely Peel spins. I bet a far smaller percentage of Sebadoh’s bedwetter brigade vote Trump than do Green River fans, and I wish this more empathetic wing of Gen X had survived contact with the Millenium Bug and made it to the post-End of History. It’s overlong, pretty passages matched by workmanlike grunge porridge, marker of a democratic attitude to letting every band member have their fair slice of the vinyl pizza. This is a peak 3/5 record and I’m glad it’s here. Bob Weston of Shellac engineered this, a credit that fits: a sweet man recording a sweet record.

The whole alternative indie rock Fugazi, Dinosaur Jr., and now Sebadoh thing is a bit too artsy for me. Critics love it but I don't think it's as good as they gush. It's not bad, sometimes really good, but I think there's a few too many of these albums on the list. I really came to enjoy Soul and Fire (nice balance of chords, plucking, and distortion) and Cliche (subtle but well-composed). Sister (good energy but the vocals...), Sacred Attention (also good energy, vocals fine), and Homemade (another subtler but deep piece) were also pretty good. But on other songs the time signatures or experimental touches or vocals are too off-putting; listen to Telecosmic Alchemy, Fantastic Disaster, Elixir is Zog, or No Way Out for what I mean. It's not awful, it's just too much trying to be creative.

lo-fi was one of my favourite styles in the 90s, but Sebadoh was always somewhat eclipsed by Pavement. For me, Pavement are definitely the more essential of the two with the passage of time. Still. this album's a decent example of a great genre

Très original, j'étais pas complètement séduit, mais il y a vraiment de quoi d'avant-gardiste et d'unique dans cet album. C'est un album qui est aussi à l'opposé du terme "monotone" puisqu'il n'y a pas un moment pareil sur l'album, mais sans jamais sortir des sentiers indie rock. Définitivement à réessayer. 7/10

Nondescript ‘90s alt-rock back when that meant college radio rock trying to do stoner grunge. When it’s good, it’s just meat and potatoes alt-rock, and it’s fine; when it’s bad, it’s clearly a bunch of stoned motherfuckers trying to be ✨experimental✨ by just playing sloppily and out of sync, and it’s annoying. A whatever of a record. I'm fine with it, but I'm also not inspired by even its best songs. Eh 🤷🏻‍♀️

Not appealing but not repelling either

Don't think I've ever heard an entire Sebadoh album before. Flashes of brilliance here, although inconsistent; unfortunately I'm about 25 years past caring, sorry

good one 7.

//////........\\\\\\\

This album went downhill with all the grace of a sack of bricks after the first few songs. Barely a 2.

Why is this on the list? Because it's groundbreaking? Well it is, groundbreakingly shit !

A couple of songs were alright. But I don’t really care about the music on this album because I swear there was a high frequency pitch (dog whistle-esque) that rang out over the course of the entire album. It gave me a splitting headache and I don’t think I’ll ever return to this album. 2/10

Niet echt geweldig

scraping the barrel

Bad

This.was.bad.

I kept checking when the album would be over. Not a good sign.

Junior school band meets angry teen angst. A nasty noise zero star offering.

Never heard of this band, so I gave it a shot. I thought the first song showed promise and the second was ok. But after that, the next few songs made me stop listening. I can’t believe this is on the list.

The Wiki on this album says it’s the first album they did in a pro studio. You’d never know. This is the worst sounding album I’ve heard in a long time. Maybe they should start with everyone playing the same tempo and go from there? Plodding, untuneful, meandering on top of totally terrible production. Hey I get the whole Albini raw sound thing, but this is another level. A level below, a few below really. This is time I’ll never get back in my life. Unless you like listening to your neighbour’s kid’s garage band bleeding through a wall, just do yourself a favour a skip this.

I did not need to listen to this before I die. It's mixed like shit, the lyrics suck, there aren't any cool or interesting riffs and at least half the songs sound exactly the goddamn same. What's to like here dawg. Shoutout to the last third of No Way Out for being one of the worst pieces of music I've heard in a long while.

Worst album so far. Amateurish and sloppy. Worst of Hudson Bell and Home.

At best it was dull, at worst actively jarring, did not like will not listen again

I had never heard of this band or album before, but it's a banger! Louche loud and brash indie rock... boom!

What a great Indie rock record. I really enjoyed listening to this masterpiece

Oddly enough, I was more team Sebadoh than team Dinosaur Jr. during the "alternative" nineties (Sebadoh's Lou Barlow played bass and sang in Dinosaur Jr. before he was fired from the band). Jay Mascis's songs had too many guitar solos for my snobbish tastes at the time, even if I now recognize Dinosaur Jr.' importance, especially since Barlow reintegrated the band. But to be honest, I've always prefered Sebadoh's organized chaos, emphasizing fully democratic values within the band. And because the music was good too, as strange as those albums by the American band were... There were indeed three songwriters in Sebadoh at the time of *Bubble And Scrape*, and one third of said tracklist was devoted to each songwriter. And this, even if everyone (the audience, the critics, the band itself) knew the best tunesmith was Lou Barlow among those three, thanks to a rare compositional talent that helped him convey deeply melancholic feelings in his own songs. Up to that album, the only melodies really worthy of interest are his, and there are enough of them in it to sell the whole deal. Besides, the songs those melodies are part of are among the most magnificient songs Barlow ever penned in his career: "Soul And Fire", " Two Years Two Days", "Cliche", "Homemade", " Forced Love"... Plus there is the livelier " Sacred Attention", where Barlow mixes his romantic sadcore leanings with an apocalyptic wall of lo-fi guitars. Not to mention "Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)", an absolute tearjerker right before the end, where his hushed pleading voice, Seana Carmody's delicate backing vocals, and three simple chords on an acoustic guitar are enough to make you cry. "Let tomorrow be / I can't be so impatient / Pushing every answer / When there isn't any question". Wow. Rarely have songs about a couple in crisis have felt so lived-in. All of that doesn't mean that the two other band members can't bring their own (sour) cream on the melancholic cake. Jason Loewenstein still has to hone his own heavier and grungier-via-hardcore-punk skills at that point, it's true. That said, "Sister" is a great cut, and Jason even visits Lou's angsty and emotional turf with a certain flair on "Happily Divided". As for Eric Gaffney, his dissonant and experimental noisy ventures can admittedly be a breath of fresh air for fans of Syd Barrett (albeit one who would have used a time machine to listen to Hüsker Dü' early hardcore releases). Listen to "Bouquet For A Siren" or "Fantastic Disaster" to get an idea of the sort of crazy shit he could pull off. Not to everyone's tastes, obviously. Yet Gaffney's experiments bring dynamics to the whole thing that keep you constantly on your toes, as bizarre as his compositions are. If there were only Barlow's songs, this lo-fi record wouldn't work in the way it does. Sometimes the sum is worth more than the (discrete) parts. Starting with the next album, *Bakesale*, Gaffney would be out of the picture, making Sebadoh's LPs more easily digestible and/or legible. Which is why I'm surprised this later record is not in Dimery's list, instead of this one. Lou's tunes also shine on *Bakesale*, by the way (as they do in "Harmacy", the one right after), and Loewenstein's upped his game pretty well too. But I guess that's a story for another time, kiddies. 4.5/5, rounded up to 5/5, mostly because I feel that reviewers on this app are a bit lost as to the exact way the very topsy-turvy art of Sebadoh should be apprehended. Always check out Lou's songs first. Then you'll be surprised as to how far you can actually go to eventually appreciate the whole thing. Early Sebadoh is weird because it sort of needs a user's guide. But that doesn't mean they were a "bad" band by any means. Number of albums left to review: 523 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 229 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 110 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 139

Fav: Soul On Fire Least Fav: Telecosmic Alechemy This was incredible, lo-fi rock is something new to me and it will be something I’ll be getting into. Im shocked at such a low average rating, this album was great

Sebadoh is a gem in the 90s indie landscape. They are sensible and harsh, sleazy and angry, experienced and naive, all at the same time. Bubble and scrape was released when alt rock was soaring, but for any reason, they did not reach mass popularity. They deserved, and now this album lives in the hearts of those who wanted to scratch the surface and go deeper in music. The album is an experience. Tones and vibes unfold song after song. No filler. You may need to be in the right mood to flow with it, thou. But it’s not its fault. 4.5/5

Know a bit of Sebadoh but had never heard this one. This is rad. The bass-driven songs especially rock. That move of having guitar only come in parallel to the bass on the chorus in Homemade is so cool. am I going to bump a sprawling inconsistent album up to 5 for the change of pace from unremarkable 70s sludge? of course I am. music: appreciated. (⌐■_■)

Damn good emo / grunge album. Think I've heard of the band before but feel like I missed out not hearing this album until now

If Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement had an emo baby, it would sound like this. This album is fantastic, and the songs energy's changes a lot throughout the album, making it always sound fresh and never stale. Great album, never would have found it on my own

As a child of the nineties I feel I was pretty much predestined to like this one

Gets better as it goes. If you're going to take a break from Dino Jr., then at least make it worth it!

I'm giving this 5 because I really want to return to these guys. Spotify is missing half the album

Every once in a while an album will come along that I’ve never heard of before that really surprises me. It’s not that common of an occurrence, which makes it all the more better when it does happen. This is one such case. I’ve never heard of Sebadoh before. I took one glance at this cover and assumed I was in for something pretty rough. But that is not at all true. The best way to describe this is the music that plays in the wet dreams of Kurt Cobain / Pixies fans. I believe this would probably appeal to most indie rock fans in general. I usually associate slacker rock and noise pop with bright tones and songs written in major keys. So that’s what I was anticipating. But this album is much gloomier and solemn than I was expecting. But it also has its moments where things pick up. Like imagine Tame by Pixies, just turned into multiple different songs. This was also far heavier than I was expecting. This doesn’t really fit the conventional definition of heavy music. But many of the main guitar riffs use these fantastic distorted tones. And some of the vocal performances are also super grunge inspired and intense. I was listening to Slipknot, and then I put on Telecosmic Alechemy, and I swear for like 20 seconds I thought I was still listening to Slipknot. I had to check to be sure. This album shocked me in many ways. And it stands out as a genuine piece of unique indie music that very few probably know about. Which is sad, since this deserves way more attention than it’s gotten. Rating: 9/10

Where has this been all my life. This album is incredible. It leans largely on indie rock sensibilities but often veers into other genre blends. Just a kick-ass album.

As has happened before, when the album started I thought, "not another alt-rock band from the 90s that eschews tunefulness and feelings," but not long after I was feeling a lot and digging the dissonance in spite of myself. I kind of ended up loving it.

cool

Peak "teenage dirtbag" energy. Raw sounds, discordant tones, and the overall sweat-and-grit feel of a Harmony Korine film (or maybe an early Kevin Smith flick for those with a lighter palate). Captures a solid chunk of the psychic feel of the early 90s. Some of this LP can prove harsh on the ears, which some may not appreciate - but it's mixed to thrill, like a smoke cruise in a used sedan with a group of good friends.

Completely blown away. Had heard 1 song back in the 90s and thought they lacked that hard metal rock edge or alternative punch as Nirvana and the other guys were hogging the airwaves. They deprived us of a great side band which kicks ass. They are like a indie rock nirvana. Great songwriting amd arrangements and love the experimental aspect of the band. A surprising 5 stars for me and an add to my heavy rotation.

This is right up my alley, nostalgic indie lo-fi rock with a hint of grunge. Time to listen to Sebadoh’s whole discography…

Classic indie noise rock, I love how dynamic this one is from angry squalls of noise to very tender breakup/depression songs. Some might call it disjointed, but it's got 3 primary song writers and honestly... That's a lot of the charm. For fans of Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill, Hüsker Dü, etc. Maybe also if you like Midwest Emo, I feel like a lot of those bands were heavily inspired by all of the bands listed. Anyway, I love it. Maybe not as great as the high points from the other bands I listed, but I feel like Sebadoh are sorta under rated in general as far as 90s lo-fi indie stuff. This rocks.

pierādījums tam, ka nav jāmāk dziedāt, lai būtu grupā ❤️ jāatsāk klausīties nirvana

One of the most schizophrenic albums I’ve ever heard. Starts out normal, then all of a sudden gets weird, and then very weird, and then back to normal again, followed by more weirdness. I kind of liked it!

a little too angsty for my taste but still really enjoyable regardless - 8/10

Lovely guitar noises abound

Some nice lo-fi on here. Will need to check out some more.

fun listen, wish it was mixed a little better though.

One of the better albums from the grunge era

nineteen ninety three

Very splendid and calming yet fun album

This album has songs created by each of the 3 musicians which makes for something truly chaotic. It sounds shitty and messy, so I love it.

false

Enjoyed this one.

This is similar to a lot of the indie rock we’ve had on the list, but it’s good nonetheless. ‘Soul and Fire’ is an especially good song. I liked it, but it’s kind of weird it made the list.

Lou Barlow being in Dinosaur Jr. really makes sense here. Well-crafted, grungy pop songs that turn into hippie freakout music really quickly. Can be a little schizo with three separate writers each creating separate tracks. Favorite tracks: "Think", "Elixir Is Zog", "Soul And Fire"

Ja, punten voor sebadoh, niet het volle pond, ik bijt namelijk op mijn lip om niet te zeggen dat "andere albums...". Dan kom ik misschien wel als een zeurpiet over..

8/10

Some hits and misses, but I must come back

Good record! Never listened to it before but it’s good indie rock

The first Sebadoh release recorded in a professional studio manages to maintain the lo-fi aesthetics with a higher caliber songwriting (divided among the three talented songwriters) and instrumentation. Songs are uniformly strong. Soul and Fire, Think (Let Tomorrow Bee), No Way Out and Happily Divided are standouts. I am not sure it makes my list, but well worth a listen..

Ça parle à mon côté plus heavy. L'aspect dissonant et les deux chanteurs sont une belle touche.

Thing about this one, there are some really really great songs on here, but the bad ones are so bad.

Deze kan ik wel smaken

- Girl Band by moment (noise rock with focus on voice ) - Duster by moment ( slacker rock ) - Some strong tracks but some really bland - Guitar is p cool ngl - 7.6

An intriguingly eclectic batch of songs from the aftermath of the grunge boom in 1993. Sebadoh bring the goods as well as the strange and it should be appreciated for just how well-woven it can be. Favorites: Soul and Fire, Two Years Two Days, Happily Divided, Elixir is Zog, Homemade, Forced Love, No Way Out.

Very enjoyable indie record which is not afraid to be gritty and dissonant. Barlow is great as always.

I like Sebadoh a lot and generally in the order Barlow > Loewenstein > Gaffney (although the mix is definitely an added value). For that reason later albums are preferred, yet this one is much more than ok.