Reviews (page 3 of 8)
Really enjoyed this, some of it sounds like early Biffy, or gentle Nirvana, but it is still entirely its own thing. A band I plan to seek out more from.
First time hearing this band but thoroughly enjoyed it!
Some of the heavier songs and the more punk-rock ones are good, but the rest of the album is generic alternative.
If you had asked me a day ago who Lou Barlow is I could have told you he was in Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. and Folk Implosion. Of the three, the only one of those bands I've never listened to though is Sebadoh. Not sure how that happened. What a weird experience this album is. There was more that one tune that had me smashing that skip button pretty quickly. And yet... AND YET! We gotta talk about "Homemade." Holy shit. Go back and listen to that one if you let it just pass over you without paying much attention to it. Because that might be the best 90s era emo song I've never remotely heard of before. Like hall of fame level. I've listened to it three times already and it's going on a playlist. So what I've concluded is that when this band is a little more restrained, a little more quiet, and a little sad... I am a Sebadoh fan. "Happily Divided" is great. "Sister" and "Cliche" I liked a lot. Gimme "Think" all day long. But "Elixir is Zog"? "No Way Out?" Hard pass. I can't with the lo-fi spazz out stuff. The songs that sound basically like Dinosaur Jr. without Mascis on guitar aren't cutting it, man. And that stinks. Once we finish this list twenty-four years from now if someone asks me to name a record from it that had the highest highs and lowest lows, all on the same album... my answer might be this one.
a little too angsty for my taste but still really enjoyable regardless - 8/10
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..
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.
Passed on this listen first time around.... figured I would try it. Really liked the vibe. Rare Sunday four stars for me
Pretty unique and interesting take on a classic 90s indie sound, artistic dissonance, all kinds of experimental guitar sounds, blending of genres. A little out there musically but solid as an experimental project
first time listen, 4/5!
a 3.5 , first half is great
nineteen ninety three
Interesting, great indie rock feel, but I'm not sure any of the songs really hooked me.
Fuck my mouth.
👾
false
This was a pretty cool alt/grungy type thing
Jangy good fun
I like the
Skönt lo-fi sound. Ganska likt Dinosaur Jr vilket inte är så konstigt eftersom Lou Barlow därifrån är med även här. Det är lite för ojämnt med ett gäng usla låtar, men Sacred Attention och Bouquet for a Siren är otroligt bra.
2.6. This is what I think of when I hear indie. It’s fine. Not bad
I liked this album. A group I never heard of. Now that’s what I’m talking about!
It's a cross between Sonic Youth and Pedro the Lion. Too many break-up songs. I didn't love it. I did love Barlow's "Homemade" which sounds like it could have been on Keep It Like A Secret. Update: I have since learned that "Homemade" is about beating off and now I feel gross. Whatever. Three stars.
This albums sounds so rawwwww. Kinda sounds like lo-fi sonic youth. I love how it sounds like it was just recorded in someone's garage. Some instruments come in and out of focus as if someone just turned their volume up without too much thought. Music is music and placing a snobby barrier that it's only good if it was recorded with expensive equipment in an expensive studio just means that you miss out on stuff like this. Why is there a harmonica. There's a back and forth of high energy songs and low energy songs. I definitely prefer the high energy songs in this sound High 3
ok
Kinda dark and grueling
This is a messy record if varying quality, but there are some real high points. Sole single "Soul And Fire" is by far my favourite track here. It is a lo-fi break-up song with tons of heart. Short tracks like "Emma Get Wild" and "Sixteen" felt like sketches of songs that haven't been fleshed out yet and don't add anything to the album as a whole. When this album gets noisy, it just reminds me of a weaker Pavement. Acoustic ballad "Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)" would be a perfect way to wrap up the record, but instead this closes on the forgettable "Flood". I enjoyed parts of this and will come back to individual songs, but I'm not sure how often I will come back to the full album.
Ég var alls ekki að fíla þessa plötu. Slacker rokkið gerir ekki oft mikið fyrir mig. Ljótt og leiðinlegt.
Fínasta indí lofi. Nær ekki alveg fjarkanum.
Not really my sought of music. But good enough
I liked some songs and I really didn’t like others
This is #day743 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… I can surely see this band as part of the '90s American indie rock scene alongside, say, Pavement, maybe even Sonic Youth, too, though it's not something I'd be willing to put on by myself. You have to be in the zone for these lo-fi indie rock sketches, and I don't think I'm quite there right now. Let it be a 3 out of 5 for now. Looking forward to #day744.
I’d never heard Sebadoh before so I had to read up on them. Seeing that this was a Sub Pop release from 1993 immediately made me wonder if the label was trying to snatch up another Seattle sound band while grunge was still huge. They were from the Northeast, but the fuzzy guitars, rough production, and general slacker vibe definitely sound like they belong in that same early 90s universe. The first part of the album was actually pretty good. It’s noisy and unpolished, but there are enough hooks underneath all the fuzz to keep it interesting. I was starting to think this might sneak into 4-star territory. Then the second half happened. It gets a lot less interesting and starts wandering into weirdness without giving me much reason to follow it. “No Way Out” was just plain weird. Not interesting weird either, just “what the hell am I listening to?” weird. Strong enough start to save it from a 2, but the back half dragged the whole thing down.
Edited down to just the faster, harder tracks, this would be ace. But having kept in the lifeless ones and the wacky ones (shudder) brings it down. Feeling generous and have just listened to Emma Get Wild again, so going 3.
jaoooooooooooo ovaj je album mogao biti tolko dobar... glazbeno je načelno jako dobar. prvi problem: žešće pjesme, deračina - nula bodova, ništa. drugi problem: za dobar dio pjesama nađu način da ih nekako useru, npr. »homemade« je dosta dobra pjesma, ali onda dođe onaj neki emo/vikalački polurefren koji potpuno uništi dotadašnji ugođaj. sve u svemu jedna velika šteta, dajem trojku jer mi je jednostavno za trojku, ali mi je toliko žao jer bi uz poneke filtre album bio bez problema za četvorku, pa možda i nešto bolje...
Takes some time to get used to the singing style, and they are occasionally tempo challenged, but pretty interesting at points.
Hit or miss but not a bad discovery
Alright slacker rock, very reminiscent of Dinosaur Jr and Pavement, I'm already not the biggest fan of that style and this album seems a little watered down from the best artists
its fine. decent early 90s music but some odd additions to some songs. more listens might make it better.
It's completely unremarkable, and another one of those albums that get a safe three-star rating just because. If you like a typical alternative Rock sound, this album is for you. I wish I could add more depth, but I just can't this time. It's a very generic album from a band many of us never knew existed. Favorite Track: "No Way Out".
Liked a few of the songs quite a lot, the others were fine. A good variety of 90's sounds though, I feel like a lot of grungy alt falls into generic sounding pits and only a quarter of this album really gave that vibe. Trying to hear the lyrics, I had my volume up way too loud on some songs and was probably getting genuine hearing damage so maybe the mixing could be improved on a couple tracks. Calling it now, Bretton's favorite was Fantastic Disaster or Elixir is Zog Favorite(s): Sacred Attention Homemade (generic but really catchy) Least: Elixir is Zog 3/5
Fav: Two Years Two Days, Think L: Telecosmic Alchemy, Sixteen 2.5 Listening to this felt like eating a bunch of different jelly bellies. Some were pretty good, some were a funny novelty and some were awful.
It deleted my notes. Bummer. All in all, pretty good album. Maybe with time it's one of want on vinyl. Every now and then it's nice to have a consistent indie album to put on. Low stakes but not braindead. Pavement is a bit like that for me. W: soul and fire, a few others forgor L: sister, cliche 3/5
Not as good as I remembered. Sidenote: the sound quality on Apple Music was so bad it was unlistenable. Much, much better on YouTube Music!
A bit strange, but not too bad.
twijflegeval... soort van pavement light
It was ok. Not really for me. Maybe listened to half of it as I really wasn't in the mood for experiments today. Maybe I can revisit one day but it's not high on the priority list for me. 5/10
Cool stuff. Not really my vibe, but I liked listening to some new music. 5/10
A frustrating listen. Every time I was ready to write it off as hipster grunge nonsense, they hit me with an actual tune.
Started off strong but then got too much sonic youthy and not in a good way, then just kept going
Nicht schlecht, da wär aber mehr drin gewesen.
What a completely random selection for a list of 1001 albums I must hear before I die. It's certainly a serviceable example of a sort of proto-grunge effort, but nothing particularly memorable stands out among the tracks.
Bien
Enjoyed it. Didn’t hit me like the greatest thing ever, but a good listen
Dinosaur jr jr. Modestest Mouse. Stephen Malkmus and no Jicks.
Interesting as it combines many genres together Pop , Punk , metal ,
Solid indie rock
An interesting early lo fi rock album, while i didn't love all of what it tried to do and some of its better moments in songs have become conventional now, the best of this album slaps. A very mid af, bizarre and threowing b.s. at the wall first half of this album made this a a. Some legit great songs and overall decent rest bumped it up a ton, sadly it's one package.
I like it. I don't like it. I love it. I hate it. A confusing album with amazing moments and some utter dross.
Alright. Nothing crazy but nothing pops out. Liked the indie rock sounding sounds, but the normal rock is pretty chill
#999. I can't tell if it's bad as an artistic choice, or because of a lack of skill. I suspect maybe that's maybe a bit of both. There's some good songs, some nonsense, I dig it. 3/5: acceptable
Interesting alternative rock record with some cool songs - a little to lo-fi and sloppy for my taste at times
There is a 4-star 40-minute album in there somewhere
as much as dinosaur jr IS my jam, sebadoh is not. no shade Lou, just don’t feel it. actually prefer Folk Implosion tbh
Ok. This was an album
Yet another album that felt just a bit overstuffed. The songs themselves aren’t that long, and with their slacker stylings, they also not that complex or dense, but 17 tracks on an album still felt too long. Felt somewhat like how The Monkees might have sounded if they’d grown up a bit and been transplanted into the 90s weed scene.
I am generally happy with the dissonance, detuned instruments, and flat vocals. That can be fun. From the right people, it can even seem raw and authentic, rather than wrong. Which is a clever trick. Rather, it's the annoying tempo change at the very beginning of the album, knocking down the speed when the whole arrangement implies uplift into the record proper, that let's you know you're being messed with. Denied the simple pleasures of rock'n'roll for mucking about. I know of what I speak, because it is exactly the sort of thing Paul and I would have done. And, on reflection, it got in the way. There are albums that play with your expectation and that elevates the whole thing. And we will come to acts like Throbbing Gristle who are pure aggravation. But you feel like Lou Barlow wants you to actually enjoy the songs. Then get out of the way, Lou! 2 This is charming. 3/5
Meh
Reading the entry in the book, thought this might be one I really dislike. A bit of a mixed bag, probably due to the different songwriters. Recognized a couple songs from alternative radio. 2.5 stars
I went into Bubble and Scrape not really knowing what to expect, but it turned out to be a total mixed bag. It’s basically a mashup of shoegaze, Pavement-style slacker rock, and some Sonic Youth-esque noise, all recorded like it was done on a cheap tape deck in a garage. It’s definitely raw and messy and the guitars go out of tune and things get pretty weird but that’s honestly where the charm is. It’s a super flawed, gritty little piece of the '90s indie scene that really nails that whole DIY vibe.
Started out nice. Got a little screamy later.
I like the sound but the lyrics are mostly misses for me. Interesting album overall.
Aaah lofi...I always appreciate the crunchy guitar mixing with the jangly.
#239 listening diary -Soul and Fire is pretty good! -I like how his voice sounds on Happily Divided, it reminded me of Eliott Smith a lil bit. Very 90s sounding 90s album. -Sister was cool, I really like the use of feedback. It does feel like the production isn't up to par. Like this doesn't sound as raw as they wanted it to be, maybe the mix is bit off, like every instrument is a bit too quiet or something. -Cliche was good too, I'm enjoying this so far, coming off of Soul and Fire I felt a bit undewhelmed for 3 or 4 tracks but then it kicked off again. -the songs are well written and interesting, this is a better 3 than many 3 I've given. -There's a couple of songs with post-punk sounding guitars. I do like that.
Lots of genre mixing of stuff you don’t always see together. Very reminiscent of 90s rock sensibilities with a bit of baroque. It’s scratchy and playful!
okay, but also so boring
Entiendo el punto pero demasiada disonancia para mi gusto
It had a lot going on but several songs were boppy
I really liked the first two tracks and one or two others. Other than that, the album is pretty average. I’ll likely listen to the 2-3 songs I liked but can’t see myself playing the whole album again.
Tuesday, 16 June, 2026 Bloomsday! Side two saved this album from a two star. “Sacred attention” in particular, and the couple songs around it.
I am now 454 albums into the 1089 (Yes, I also thought it was 1001). It's like summiting Everest as an outsider before white people realized they could exploit the poor local population to whisk them and their gear up the mountain. I have nearly been claimed by yawning crevasses echoing faintly with pseudo protest anthems and British no-wave. They may call it mountain madness, but I swear I saw that guy who was on the Sopranos that plays guitar for Big "man of the people" billionaire baby man, Brucie Boy Springsteeno. Violent ice storms abound. Most of my crew has vanished. I stay determined, albeit a tad hopeless that this endeavour will bear any fruit. In this interminable trek towards an unknown end, a nice little genre bending, shouty indie/slacker rock day feels like I can open my parka and enjoy a rare blast of warm air. No corpses to step over today and a relatively gentle slope. I know this reprieve warns of treacherous conditions tomorrow. There is a storm brewing and I'm sure it'll emanate from the UK. 3.5 HIGHLIGHTS: You know, I don't think they use construction paper in construction.
I enjoyed this album listen from Sebadoh! I’d never heard of this band or album but I thought this was a solid album. Overall, I thought this was a satisfying alt rock/indie rock album with punk influences and I would listen to it again!
I've heard of the band Sebadoh but I'm not sure I've ever listened to them. It's pretty good garage rock, way lower production of the big dogs of the grunge scene, more in the likes of Sonic Youth. It's a pretty good sound to be honest, and I liked listening to it all the way through. I was having a hard time picking a favorite, as none of the songs really individually grabbed me. Soul and Fire is good, definitely the best produced song, and is probably the best here. I also liked Forced Love. This guy was definitely pretty messed up by his dying relationship, the whole album is about letting it go. Fine album, not my favorite though.
I listened to them in the 90’s. Not missing them now.
Not bad. 17 tracks. Not 32
Kinda grungy but overall not bad
This album is an example that just because a known good record label put it out doesn't mean it's a banger. 90s alt rules my heart so I didn't hate this but I also understand why it wasn't that big or known.
I picked up everything from Teenage Fanclub to Pavement, with hints of Sonic Youth in between. I like this kind of messy indie but I feel like it's something that takes me time and multiple listens to fully digest. The more I did, the more I enjoyed its better moments but the more I tired of the worse ones. I could cut this down to 20-25 minutes of greatness but probably means I only half-liked it, to be brutally honest.
3 de 5 Obra de transición en el rock alternativo. El disco captura a la perfección la tensión y el contraste entre el lo-fi ruidoso y experimental, y el inicio de un sonido más melódico y estructurado. Cuenta con arreglos más pulidos, sin perder su crudeza característica. El productor Bob Weston ayudó a definir una intensidad sónica única que es a la vez visceral y emocional. A destacar: Track 1 - Soul and Fire Track 2 - Two Years Two Days Track 3 - Telecosmic Alchemy Track 5 - Happily Divided Track 7 - Cliche Track 8 - Sacred Attention Track 12 - Homemade Track 13 - Forced Love Track 14 - No Way Out Track 16 - Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)
Kinda early indie rock sounding. Decent
3.5
I barely noticed this album was even on
För långt såklart men gillade ändå 90-talsarkeologin. Det var bitvis kul det här.
Trodde jag hatade först men blev omvänd! Rätt charmigt faktiskt. Chockad över att se en 1a från Bert3000. Trodde det var rakt upp i hans hjulhus!
very mixed bag
I liked the start of the album but I feel like the rest of it doesn't have much substance. Reminded me a lot of pavement and some other slacker rock stuff but I would recommend listening to those instead of this 6/10 Favourite: Sister Least Favourite: Elixir is Zog
Muy good! Dad's fav song
Voix nulle Fantastic disaster : dissonant et désagréable à écouter Happily divided sort un peu du lot, j’aurais pensé que c’était de nirvâna Sacrée attention envoie bien ! Élixir is zog est aussi originale Forced love : bien ! Think (let tomorrow be) : bien ! En fait la fin de l’album est même très agréable à écouter ! 7/10
An absolute enigma to me, this record. So bizarre.... the first two songs are really strong indie guitar rock, lo-fi, cool chord voicings, frail vocals..... and then songs three and four are just dogshit atonal nonsense. It's all over the road. I had to go to the Wikipedia- and it all makes sense now. Barlow writes pretty solid indie rock. The other two guys in the band wrote all the totally bizarre stuff. I wish this was just Lou Barlow, and the other guys just contributed their instrumental stylings and not their vocals or songwriting. "Elixir Is Zog" is the exception - totally strange and yet also harmonic and melodic in its own weird way. It can be done! Anyways. The best songs here are "Soul and Fire," "Homemade," and "Elixir." So much of the rest is just not good. That all being said, I'm really glad I listened to this, and I think there are people out there who would love this but have never heard of it before. It's gotta be - THREE STARS
Not bad, but it took me so many sessions to actually finish
Thoughts before listening: Lou Barlow's other band beside Dino Jr and Folk Implosion. This has to be some sort of lo for indie rock. I know this gets lots of praise, but I have never actually listened to it. Review: Yeah I nailed the sound. Some of this is great (i.e. "Sister", "Sacred Attention", and "Homemade") and some of it is too ramshackle and lo-fi for its own good. There is certainly something to be said for the very 90s idea of some dudes bashing out catchy indie rock songs and becoming cult heroes for it, and there are other band I love with this same aesthetic. However, Sebasoh was never one of my bands, and this isn't scratching that nostalgia itch that some of their contemporaries might. Still though, I'm glad I gave this a try, but I much prefer Dino Jr for my Lou Barlow fix. 3-stars
This album gently stands on its own but is mostly a stepping point between other musical movements
Strong 3
The style is so different from front to back. As the middle ones, I really don’t like the mixing of country instruments and hard rock
The first 6 songs of the record basically are a microcosm of this one - starts out like a pretty great indie rock record for the first few tracks, gets super weird for a bit, a couple that sort of split the difference. With three different songwriters, it's almost like three different albums at time (see: Tusk review). The Lou Barlow tracks here are clearly the best for me and if you extracted them out by themselves, it would be a great little mini-album. Cliche in particular hits hard with the almost emo-like intro and lyrics but there are some other great moments like the slow, driving guitars on Homemade. The Gaffney songs are just too out there and are sort of a jarring contrast to a lot of the rest and really drag down the rating for me.
lol, I probably liked this more than most in this group. I stg, like, 3 songs were absolute f-ing bangers. The rest of the album was absolute gutter punk scream trash. lol. Live on, my boys 🤙🏻
What a great listen this was! I’ve only ever heard the album after this, Bakesale, which I remember enjoying way back when it came out. I never got around to hearing any of their other albums so it was a surprise when this came up for this project and I enjoyed listening to it so much! I just love all the noisy experimental sounds that permeates their indie folk rock sound. I heard so much of this kind of stuff back then that I never thought too much of it but now, over 30 years later, this sounds so fresh and exciting compared to most of the modern crap that’s out there right now. Yet another band that I definitely need to dig into their discography!
Teenage me who heard this when it first came out would probably rate it higher. It was also probably written for teenage me. It's still a good album. there's a certain amount of... unconventional... songs in there which may or may not affect your views.
Dreamy
This one grew on me the further into it I got, but it still didn’t blow me away. Overall it’s fine one I got past the first few tracks, vocals there seemed a little monotone and monotonous. I’ll be generous and round up to 3 stars.
Yeah this pretty alright, I wouldn't say I loved it but I found myself enjoying it well enough.
Varias cosas interesantes, las letras tratan muchas temáticas adolescentes como el desamor, amistades rotas y el desenfreno de la juventud, la producción está bastante pulida y muchas canciones tienen guitarras súper enérgicas y agresivas mezclados con sonidos extraños y poco comunes, pero sin dejar de lado algunas canciones íntimas y relajantes muy al estilo indie.
Behind the two very soft, heartfelt and mellow intro tracks hides a very chaotic, noisy and dissonant album that can either be very challenging or have some really solid tunes. Starting from the very beginning, as mentioned, the two first songs are some of the saddest moments of the whole project. The guitars sound really nice and melodic, the voice is super soft and has a tinge of sadness, and the lyrics mainly focus on separation. The second song "Two Years Two Days" might be a more energetic and not as slow as the first one, but still have the same feeling. From here, the album starts to get chaotic. The next two songs "Telecosmic Alchemy" and "Fantastic Disaster" present the challenging side of the record, as the guitar are incredibly dissonant and noisy, with the voices also getting atonal and starting to scream a little bit. This is probably the aspect which makes most people dislike the album, and I get why. In comparison with another noise rock acts, such as Sonic Youth, I don't think they are doing nothing specially interesting, and they are wasting the potential to create something special with all the tension built up by the pure cacophony. Fortunately, there are songs that come back to the melancholic sound of the first ones, like "Happily Divided", "Cliche", "Homemade" and "Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)", and there are also some other songs that are some very solid noise rock with some great riffs. For me, some highlights under this category are "Sacred Attention", "Emma Get Wild" and "Forced Love". So while I did enjoy the album overall and I think it has some solid moments, I also believe that the best parts aren't super impressive and the worst parts are certainly very hard to sit through. As a side note, one of the founding members of the album is Lou Barlow, which is mostly known for being the bass player in Dinosaur Jr., so I guess this might be the reason why this got added into the list.
Nie je to zlé, ale nie je to skvelé... Podľa názvu skupiny som si myslel, že je to nejaký heavy metal, bol som pomerne prijemne prekvapený...
3.5 Bit surprised by a Sebadoh entry. Thought Bakesale would have been the one featured. Gave this a quick listen, sacred attention stood out. I will listen to this album again instead of throwing on bakesale next time
Enjoyable, but not especially memorable, 90s indie rock.
Chill coffee house vibes. And then more of a grunge rock bike shop vibe. I've heard of Sebadoh but never had a full listen of their music. Pretty good stuff with a nice 90s feel. 3.5
rugged comes to mind, some decent tracks
Good album. Raw, garage style indie rock. Not surprisingly, I learned that one of the members plays with Dinosaur Jr. I liked the innovative sound and energy of this album.
I remember not liking them in the 90s as they were on Subpop but being disappointed they weren’t grunge. This is decent but not really my style (still!)
First listen
When this album is good, it's GOOD, but when it is bad it's dire. Highlights: Soul and Fire, Two Days, Happily Divided, Cliche, Sacred Attention, Sixteen
Never heard of them until now. Some great sounds and solid production.
Some really good tracks
A bit of this and a bit of that. Ok mostly. 3 stars
Solid lo-fi noise that I found mostly pleasant. Liked Songs Added: Soul And Fire
I think that if I'd heard this in the 90s, my rating would be higher. But listening to it for the first time with 2026 ears, it was just okay.
그냥 락이야
Seemed similar to early Beck, the glue-sniffing years. Not bad, I'll try to come back to this and listen again
i liked this one. lot
If I was a kid in the 90s I would've fallen in love with Lou Barlow. The second I saw his face I recognized he's Jewish. What a queen.
That 90's distorted guitar sound that I love, but the songs are too muted for my taste. Still a solid listen, and one I'll return to.
Some really nice guitar work, certain songs stood out more than others, overall pretty good
While I may not listen to this album again any time soon, it is a fine album. The lo-fi production, lyrics of heartbreak, and energy are interesting. The big issue ai have is that... we'll, this album is outclassed by many similar albums. Pavement's discography beats Sebadoh to a pulp in this regard and, if we are to mention albums not on the list, it feels like Weezer's Pinkerton did everything this album tried to do but better. I wouldn't say this album is necessarily integral to a list like this, but for what it is, it's fine. Nothing odious but nothing special either. Highlights are Two Years Two Days, and Elixir is Zog.
Well, it was really creative and pretty at times. The banshee screaming was not very enjoyable and pretty annoying, but the emotional moments like Cliche and Homemade are really inviting to me.
2.7 2x
Eine eher unbekannte Band. Aber angenehmer Indie-Rock. Abwechslungsreich, teils nachdenklich/schwermütig. 3/5
Yeah, not sure about this one. It's either brilliant or a mess. I say that sardonically. Sometimes it sounds like they have no idea what they are doing, but they clearly do. This seems more like an album to study than to listen to while working or whatnot.
I love some of these tracks individually and have great memories of them coming onto indie radio shows, cutting through the fey, the poppy, the melancholic mix with something quirky and yet consistently distinctive. Unfortunately, listening to these tracks in sequence is underwhelming and can't muster the enthusiasm of my youth 2.75
So I missed these guys when they seemed to be quite popular in their day. Not sure i would've loved them. This record has a lot of interesting aspects and is a great window into 2010's indie garage noise. But I feel its to frenetic and aimless as a body of work
Not one I’d heard before, but it’s good. Feels like it could grow on me (rather than show on me???). Favourite track: Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)
When I started listening to this I thought it sounded a lot like Dinosaur Jr. Turns out there’s at least one member of Dinosaur Jr in this band so that tracks. It was a pretty good album, but to me it was just like Dinosaur Jr without J. Mascis, so not as good. Still a solid album with some cool songs. The songs that used dissonance were my favorite.
As I was listening I was like, "this feels very Sub Pop" and low and behold.
It is quite incredible what a trio of squabbling, misanthropic young men can do. Quite an intriguing album. The experimentation and evident struggle has its fascination. It falls somewhat short of greatness, however.
Look up 'indie rock' in the dictionary and it has an album cover from Sebadoh in there. Look up 'indie rocker' and you've got Lou Balow. I can get why this would turn some people off, but for me this is a lovely album. I really like the experimentation on every song and you don't know what you're going to get from song to song.
This album is very up and down for me and considering the stylistic differences it makes sense. I really enjoyed Soul and Fire, Two Years Two Days, Happily Divided, Cliche, Homemade, Forced Love, and Think (Let Tomorrow Bee). I could have done without a bunch of the others - but even those aren't terrible. It's definitely not a bad album and I may come back to it but probably never to listen to it as a whole.
Forgot how all over the place this record is. They really threw everything they had at it, and took advantage of that studio sound. Didn’t realize Weston produced…makes sense.
Dos de sus canciones, Sacred attention y Two years two days, me gustaron mucho. En general, el disco es bastante bastante lindo. Sus partes más experimentales me caen menos simpático y tienden a aburrirme, me gusta más cuando las canciones son sencillas y predecibles. La atmósfera lograda con la textura lofi me gusta mucho. Para no ser el estilo que acostumbro, me pareció muy bueno. Aún así, no sé si lo escucharía seguido.
Do I really need to listen to this record before I die?
It's fine, I won't be revisiting though
This was a really nostalgic sound for me, because it sounded so classically 90s alt rock. I enjoyed this album for that reason, but didn’t enjoy the more screamy parts as much as the more melodic songs.
I may come back to this album for a second listen. Really enjoyed a lot of the songs.
I don't really know what to make of this album. Parts were interesting but parts were fairly mediocre grunge-adjacent rock.
Decent but it's a bit too... All over the place. Trying to grasp a coherent theme of in this album is like trying to catch the single M&M that rolled under your desk.
Sounds like a more janky Dinosaur Jr. I can understand this kind of jank rubs most the wrong way but I'm alright with it
I was surprised by this album- gound myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. Interesting mix of indie rock with like a proto-emo / hardcore sound. Overall- decent album
Why this album. Why not Bakesale or III. I like Sebadoh. It’s a Sebadoh album! It has some unbelievable alt rock smashes and then some confusing lo-fi messes. If you’re into that it’s great! If not? Ehhhhh. I like their other stuff more
I really liked like 2/3rds of this record. Really cool lo fi rock sound, really good harmonies and stuff. I already like the way he sings so it wasn't a big deal for me, but some of these songs just feel out of tune and even though it's intentional I just could not enjoy it.
Passed over me with very little impact!
Enjoyed this
enjoyed this although it is a bit of a mixture
Ok. ★★★
I could see it growing on me.
Rätt tufft men inte heeelt för mig
Tänkte direkt på Dinosaur Jr. när jag började lyssna, så det var kul att höra både att kopplingen fanns och att det här också lät bra, om än inte lika.
Intressant blandning av sound mellan olika låtar, det mesta behagligt.
Ok
A solid 3. But i do love lou barlow, so Biased. Really liked soul and fire, and sister
Enjoyed it. A good album Pretty forgettable thought.
Clangy and meaty. Bitesize songs. Beef Jerky. Raw, unproduced feel, ok 1st and last songs are the best. Basically, youve got some unexplained meat with your eggs.
Wasn’t bad. Wasn’t great either
Some decent songs, feels like a collection of demos though overall. Not a fan of the ones the other fella sings. Probably won’t return to this. Bubble & scrapes a 3.
неплохо началось, но что то потом не склеилось
Without picking up the book, it's unclear to me why this is the single Sebadoh album to make the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list. And maybe the rest of what's to come is too "inside the Lou Barlow filter bubble," if there is such a thing, but given that this record makes the list, the editors have likely heard the more bitterly caustic early work or the more classically popular Bakesale. But maybe this is exactly their case for Bubble & Scrape. If Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock marks the end of the early albums (debatable) and Bakesale marks the start of their popular period (also debatable), then Bubble & Scrape is the turning point. Except, of course, it's all singularly Sebadoh. Meaning whatever record you listen to there will be some well-crafted songs that positively perk up your ears no matter the recording quality and other tracks that just feel like jangle trash they knew should be left on the editing room floor but decided to include just to antagonize. It's great.
some good some bad some wild it had it all
certainly not their best, but still enjoyable
Soul And Fire - 4/5 Two Years Two Days - 4.5/5 Telescopic Alchemy - 3/5 Fantastic Disaster - 3/5 Happily Divided - 4.5/5 Sister - 4/5 Cliche - 4/5 Sacred Attention - 4/5 Elixir Is Zog - 3.5/5 Emma Get Wild - 3/5 Sixteen - 3/5 Homemade - 2/5 Forced Love - 3/5 No Way Out - 2.5/5 Bouquet For A Siren - 3.5/5 Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) - 4/5 Flood - 3/5
SebaDON’T. Just kidding, this actually grew on me as it went on. Sebado whatever you want. Prob 3.5
I often like dissonant music, things that are a bit angry, somewhat weird, odd. I thought this was OK, but not great. Kind of an indictment, really, in that the style should have worked for me, but it didn't, and presumably that's because it's a bit derivative.
Raucous, but in a good way. It seemed to hit a groove about halfway through and kept it going until the end. Three stars.
Uneven but better than a 2. This is much more "mid" than it is "must listen".
That was interesting. I liked some of the tracks, didn't hate it.
Damn, this isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be. It's a bit disjointed in places...a bit chaotic. Beautiful songs one track, aggressive and hard the next, but they pull it off pretty well.
The opening song was great, but it quickly went downhill from there. Most of the songs uses distortion and alternative “harmonies”. The songs varies from just annoying to “ok, this is kinda cool”. Sometimes it is all over the place, and in the next moment it is nice. Conclusion: A few songs are definetly better than the rest of the album. I might check out some of their other singles. Favourite songs: Soul and Fire, Think (Let Tomorrow Be).
I've never heard this album and understand why it would be included list, unless its about the Sub Pop label or New England grunge. I didn't really enjoy much of it, despite its tight rhythm section.
I liked this alum esp the instruments and vocals! The lyrics were relatable and enjoyable.
“This sounds a lot like Dino Jr” I say to myself before learning that Lou Barlow is a founding member.
62/100. A solid indie rock record that keeps things interesting by constantly switching things up. The sound shifts a lot from song to song, and it actually works in the album’s favor. It feels less like one strict style and more like flipping through a bunch of different moods and influences.
EXTREMELY hit or miss album for me. I don't enjoy the heavier, louder songs personally, but I did like about half this album.
Pretty solid indie punk album
6/10 Favorite: Soul And Fire
-this is decent. i have a newfound appreciation for 90s indie rock, perhaps influenced by Built To Spill and Dinosaur Jr., so i ended up rather enjoying this -not the most interesting rock album i’ve ever heard by a long shot, but i do quite love the random jarring tone shifts throughout the album. not bad, would like to listen again -Favorites: Two Years Two Days, Happily Divided, Elixir Is Zog, Flood
It has glimpses of greatness but it just never reaches those heights.
i thought it was called slacker rock not whiner rock
There's some nice stuff on here, but it's a bit too inconsistent for me. A real mixed bag.
Gaffney's last stand on this Sub Pop layered piece.
Decent lo-fi schmo-fi. Great first track, the rest I like rather than love.
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It's a good length album and the tracks are kind of samey. Very of its time.
Heavy metal répétitif que j'ai encore écouté 2 ou 3 fois parce que j'avais oublié ce que c'était faute de l'avoir noté direct après écoute. Un peu plan plan mais pas désagréable à écouter, comme la majorité des albums quoi.
De mémoire : sympa
Un mélange de très bon et de beaucoup moins bon, quelques sonorités expérimentales qui m'ont plu mais aussi des passages bizarres 3/5
Goes wilder places than Bakesale, but Bakesale was a lot more consistently good, I feel. Surprised that's not on the list and this one is? (unless I just haven't gotten it yet) 3.5/5
The songs oscillated between me liking them and wanting to skip them - maybe that happens when everyone in a band writes songs? I think I didn’t like the gaffney written songs (besides think). Ends up with a 3 - if it was just the songs I liked it would be closer to 4
One of many albums on this list which are quite nice but nothing more
Starts as a mix of Temu Matthew Sweet meets Elliott Smith and goes downhill fast.
I liked Bakesale well enough, but Bubble & Scrape wasn't doing it for me too much this morning. Some great guitar work and a few really good tunes ("Soul and Fire", "Homemade", "Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)"), but overall, it felt like somewhat anonymous slacker rock and lacking in song structure. It gets up to a low 3 stars in my book, as I dig the general style, but I can't say I feel overly compelled to return much to this one. 3/5
I hate indie rock. This was very meh. 2.5/5
Band an album were all new to me. Although it is mainly the kind of music I like the most, I'm not 100% into the vocals. And just because here and then there are pieces that annoy me, I can only give it the weak three stars. favourite: "Cliche", "Sacred Attention", "Emma Get Wild", Forced Love" 2,5
When this record popped up yesterday morning I was like "oh yeah Sebadoh, I remember them" but my next thought was "have I ever actually heard any of this or do I just know about it from reading about it in Puncture or whatever at the time?" So ok - this is along the lines of things I like, indie rock. I'd give it more stars if it was a little more innovative. It didn't really speak to me for some reason. Three stars because it's competent, tuneful, but for me unexciting.
If you don't love the music you listened to when you were 20-whatever, I suspect your life has not been what you hoped for.
Kao da je neko uzeo sav indie/alt rock iz devedesetih, izblendao zajedno, i napravio najprosječniji prosjek od albuma s tom kombinacijom.
So I was into Sebadoh for a while, which makes sense me being a Dinosaur Jr. fanboy (Sebadoh was created by Lou Barlow, Dinosaur Jr bass player). This isn’t my favorite album of theirs but it shows great range for a slacker indie record. It would be more than a stretch to say you have to listen to this album before you die but if you like nineties slacker indie rock then it’s a great one (also try III which I like better). Three stars.
Grungy but not too grungy. The odd screamy bit. Somewhere in between Buttholesurfers and MBV
Kind of interesting lo fi stuff.
I'm a big Dinosaur Jr. fan, and I've never really listened to Sebadoh, so I was excited to try to get into this album. After a first listen, I'm thinking it's good not great. A lot of really good songs, which mostly feel like breakup songs. Vocals are delivered mostly dryly in that 90s indie style reminiscent of Sonic Youth, but there is some harsh yelling too, like on "Elixir Is Zog". The tracks tow the line between lo-fi and studio polish. But ultimately I'm not sure I'm finding something to latch on to. That is, I'm not finding a hook to sink my teeth into. Guitars are great on a lot of tracks, bass is great on a lot of tracks, but what is the unique defining "sound" here? There is a lot of variety song to song, and the album as a whole feels like a bunch of songs by different people got dumped into one place. Maybe I need another listen or time for it to meld with me.
3.5/5 B
I liked this less as it went on.
It’s pretty good. 3/5
80’s indie
Interesting mix of music. Not really my jam, but I can see the appeal for some people.
Scrapes a low 3 for me. Wasn't a fan of the last song.
Feels too disparate to properly land but I really enjoy the bits that do land for me and there are just enough of them to make it a solid 3 for me
I had a little obsessive Sebadoh phase around 2005 (Russian MP3 sites and a steady income were a potent combination). It's wild how different this sounds from the (stellar) album, Bakesale, that came just a year later, sans Eric Gaffney. The band described Gaffney's departure as euphoric because he was so difficult to work with. Gaffney's absence clarified what he brought to the table; without him, Lou Barlow's Sebadoh sounds more like Lou's other legendary band, Dinosaur Jr. There's a menacing rockabilly underlying Bubble & Scrape that seems to be all Gaffney. And I'm into it -- though not as much as Bakesale*. This whole album is the sonic equivalent of chaotic neutral. The band sounds loose and a little incohesive, prone to exploring whatever weird whim a song leads them to. Sebadoh gets four stars as a band, but Bubble & Scrape isn't quite up to that territory. *I'm referencing Bakesale so much in part because, like often happens on this list, that superior effort is missing from the 1001 albums.
One I have never heard of, I love when these come up. 2 songs in, seems like pretty standard early 90s grunge/indie. Then Telescopic Alchemy comes on, wtf is this? They decided that one was finished and released it huh? I guess so. The trend continues with the sort of chaotic, almost atonal sound with questionable vocals. Kind of reminds me of Green Jelly a little bit. It then kind of goes back and forth between that kind of chaotic stuff and the more listenable grunge/indie that kicked off the album. I like some of it, don't like some of it. I think the biggest problem is that they just couldn't figure out what this record was going to be. It's really disjointed and uneven. Some great guitar tones here and there and some really good sounding songs next to some that are almost unlistenable. An album I don't think I'll be coming back to 2.5/5
OK.
Some decent songs some mid
A little incel coded? Anyway I had kinda vaguely heard of these guys, but wasn't to impressed. 2nd half different and better than the first.
If I could give this negative stars I would
Bizarrely, this album gave off some Foo Fighters (debut album) vibes to me. I don't know if it was the slight similarity in one lead singer's voice to Dave Grohl's voice or the fact both feel somewhat lo-fi at times. Soul and Fire deservedly leads off the album, as it is the strongest track. This one is on the list as it provides a look into early 90's indie rock. I thought it was an okay album and I'm not sure I would care to do a further review of this band's output. Bouquet for a Siren sounds like Fire of Lake by the Meat Puppets, at least to me. My favorite songs were: Soul and Fire Two Years Two Days Sister Sacred Attention Forced Love Bouquet for a Siren
Pretty cool album.
This is pretty dull stuff. Not bad, but not great...
Nice range of sounds.
this album didn’t really hit on first listen, and I wasn’t sure what the vibe that they were going for was - it seemed pretty all over the place On second listen I felt like I got what they were going for - I’m not too big on noise rock but it’s the type of music Helen Kostas and Alex want the band to sound like There was still a lot of songs that I felt were just filler, despite some really good ones in there - Soul and Fire, Homemade and Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) were the standouts
First time listening to them. Took me a minute to settle in, but I found appreciation with “Homemade.”
Enjoyed this. But indistinguishable from any other NW US indie grunge of the time. Listened 3 times and can't remember any specific tracks, but end to end it's a good listen. So I lied, I do remember Fantastic Disaster for its great use of harmonica. I hope it was a pisstake because it made me smile. 3½
I liked how there were unexpected parts
This is a combination of my favorite genre and my least favorite genre. So it was guaranteed to either diminish what I love or heighten what I hate. And that’s exactly what it did. This lands right in the middle of mediocrity.
At a time where “Alternative Rock” was shorthand for “grunge,” this band had a foreword-looking style that sounds like if the Strokes played songs written by Jeff Tweedy.
very reminiscent of pavement and early elliott smith. i definitely enjoyed the album, but there was a lack of hooks or distinctive instrumentation or structure to fully enrapture me
Asenteikasta indie rokkia. Aika vahva grunge soundi myös. Perus hyviä kappaleita vaikka osa on taas sillein tahallisen huonoja ja ärsyttäviä. Mää vaan en ymmärrä sitä. Parhaat: Soul And Fire, Sacred Attention, Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)
There are some interesting tracks on this record, and I enjoyed listening to it, but it sounds a bit disjointed, like a compilation. Nothing made me stand at attention, but I do hear shades of bands that came before (Sonic Youth) and after (Hum, Smashing Pumpkins), and nothing sounds derivative here. I would probably have liked this record more if I had heard it when I was in high school, which makes me want to enjoy it more than I do now. It sounds like the indie rock that the slightly older guys I knew in college listened to. It sounds super 90s hip and cool college radio, and I was only ever super 90s hip and cool college radio adjacent. Three stars.
I love Sebadoh but this certainly isn't the album I'd pick. Listen to III or Bakesale. Maybe Harmacy if you're feeling spicy.
Sometimes a good, sometimes a shit
Sounds like 90s indy/grunge/garage rock. While I generally like that sound, some of it was too discordant to me, or just uninteresting. There were a few really good tracks though, in particular: Soul and Fire, and Think (Let Tomorrow Bee).
There’s not a lot here for me. It’s not that bad, but also I didn’t like any of the songs.
Durchwachsenes Indie Werk mit einigen Höhen aber auch vielen Tiefen. … Gen Z würde sagen „Ging so“
Not exactly my cup of tea, but it brought back that teenage sense of the futility of being. Back then, I was dating someone into punk metal; he used to share music like that – you suffer while listening, yet somehow it feels good to suffer.
I love it when he toggles between intensities. His voice is kind and gentle, then 100% metal.
Thanksgiving '00 I was visiting my aunt and uncle on the outskirts of Chattanooga. Lots of sitting around chatting with the extended family. In attendance was a cousin who I have known for years but haven't spent all that much time with. He asks if I want to go to the store to grab something. I am ready to leave the "sitting around chatting" portion of the weekend - however bri fly. We get in his vintage Oldsmobile share a joint and drive around - aimlessly. Not sure we ever made it to the store. Maybe. Probably doesn't matter. What did matter was the tape playing in the tape player - Bubble and Scrape. I like Sebadoh just fine. I saw them a few times. Owned some records - this is not my favorite. But that probably doesn't matter either. What mattered is that for a brief moment 25 years ago youth as a knew it - ended. It was not my marriage or the birth of my first child. It was not getting a real job. Those things were all about to happen. Youth as I understood it in the truest of the word is epitomized by driving around aimlessly, sharing a joint and just being in a moment you don't fully understand in real time. You're just there. No agenda. No destination (except theoretically a possibly non existent store). Talking. Or not. Just driving. And getting lost in some crunchy guitars and strongly held dude emotions seemed to be the perfect soundtrack to the waning moments of true slackerdom. It was a moment.
Pretty good
Más lofi noventero let's gooooo Escucho maquetas grabadas en un sótano con mucho sentimiento y poca intención de afinar. Tiene momentos bonitos (Soul and Fire es una joya) y otros que simplemente se ahogan en su propio concepto. Le pasa como al anterior, Guided by Voices, que las canciones empiezan a sonar muy bien justo cuando se acaban. Aunque aquí al menos no hay 28 en 40 min lol En definitiva, un disco muy de su época: perfecto para entender por qué el indie se enamoró del ruido, pero no necesariamente algo a lo que quieras volver cada semana. Favs: Soul and Fire, Two Years Two Days, Sacred Attention
Me parece que el lo-fi de los 90 tiene muchísimo encanto. Partiendo de esa base, incluso con ese sonido característico, me parece que este disco es muy derivativo con canciones que, en su mayoría, no terminan de despegar. Hay sonidos e ideas muy interesantes, pero cuando se está en un puente constante no hay ganas de volver a la canción. ¿Esencial? Puede ser. Suena mucho a su época, es interesante escucharlo. Al menos para tener una idea de cómo sonaba el género. A la playlist: Happily Divided, Emma Get Wild, Think (Let Tomorrow Bee). Por cierto que Danny Brown samplee No Way Out, hay una parte que se presta mucho.
The pieces are there but it wasn't cooked enough. Some good stuff, some annoying stuff.
I kinda don't get it. 3
Gillar den råa stilen på produktionen, vissa låtar är lite lökiga men överlag ganska trevligt!
I think these guys listened to Nirvana quite a bit. It's pretty good albeit not terribly original. Rocks out more than I expected from an indie album. Not perfect but passable.
***An ok album, only three tracks out of 17 were hard to listen to.
Sebadoh su mi je uvijek bili kao Pavement bez zuba
This was an interesting listen. The first few tracks were just like semi-organized noise and I didn't like them. Then as the album went on, it seemed like the music got better and better, technically speaking. Almost like the musical equivalent of Flowers for Algernon. In the end I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it. It had some redeeming features and it had some junk that I don't ever want to listen to again. Three stars.
It's OK. Not enough variety though.
I fall for slacker rock pretty easily and this is no exception, enjoyed this one a lot.
this was quite a weird album but in a fun way. a few of the tracks i enjoyed and really got behind but found myself slightly confused at other parts. there was quite a variety within the tracks, with some being slow and others being full of chaos and jarring sounds. it keeps you on your toes - it's impossible to predict which direction it's going to take.
Big Dino fan, only heard one or two Sebadoh tracks here and there. This is excellent grunge music to me, but I guess that's me hearing Kurt Cobain's less grungy stylings' influence on this maybe? Kurt was meant to play a show with Sebadoh opening the day that he killed himself, the saddest moment in music history if you ask me. "Homemade" is an excellent track. Perfect maybe. I'm more into the Barlow written and sung tracks.
Bit of a mixed bag here - liked some songs and others hurt my ears. But a few more in the like column.
I've never heard of this band, but it definitely has all the sounds of a 90s alt-rock band. It has some decent tracks and I enjoyed listening to this one.
Never listened to any of this before and it was a bit all over the place for me, but definitely tugged at my high school emo/ska heartstrings. I really liked Soul and Fire, Happily Divided, and Think (Let Tomorrow Bee). Some good heartbreak lyrics! But wow, every song was like a different genre and I don’t know how I felt about it as a whole.
I didn't know this band but they sound like Pavement and Dinosaur Jr and remind me of my know-it-all older cousin telling me I "had" to listen to Pavement to understand music in 1997 and I'm still not convinced. But some songs were good.
Honestly pretty good!
Started really really well with the first song “Soul and Fire” (conjured Pearl Jam ). “Two Years…” also good. Then downhill for a stretch. But then some gems in the last half. “Homemade” another highlight. It’s raw garage rock, and I appreciate and enjoy a chunk of this album. But some of it just doesn’t sound great to me. Hear the Dinosaur Jr overlap for sure. I do think maybe if I spent more time with it, it could grow on me more. I listened once and was leaning toward a 2. On second and third listen I’m easily a 3 and maybe a high one at that.
Sebadoh inherits the post 80’s punk raw sound and energy into an ultimately polished, but directionless, album with no signature sound. Its greatest contribution is that it provides a kaleidoscopic lens into the experimental directions that rock would take in the decades to follow. Personal highlights tracks include: Soul and Fire, Emma Get Wild, and Flood.
Caught somewhere between Nirvana and Weezer.
Hm... First track started and I thought omg a 5 star album. WRONG! What the hell happened in the middle of this album?? Quite a few songs were decent - some I enjoyed more than others. Then there were some truly terrible ones slotted in I can't rate too low, so I'm going down the middle 3 ⭐️
Felt like I should be listening to this at a skatepark.
Track 1 started and I had really high hopes for the album…and then it got a little screamy for my taste. 3.5 rounded down.
I need to come up with a keyword I can ctrl+f for to indicate an album I need to return to. I’m giving this a 3 now, but it could be a 4 or even a 5 with more listens, I think.
Say! These guys are pretty good! Someone should sign them to a record deal! Anywho . . . this was a blast from my past. And I was definitely surprised to see this record come up. Sebadoh has better albums than this one, and I'd be even more surprised if there was ANOTHER Sebadoh album on the list. But I guess this is the "important" one? There are some good tunes on here (mostly Lou Barlow's), but as with most Sebadoh albums, it's a very inconsistent listen. I found myself wondering if I had talked myself into thinking I liked the band more than I actually did just because they're a Dinosaur Jr. offshoot. Also, I find my patience for the lo-fi approach, which I claimed to love when I was younger, has faded. Maybe it's just the improved home-recording technology. It's hard to get past, "I could record something that sounds better than this." (And if you think THIS album sounds lo-fi, take a listen to the albums they released before this one.)
That was fun listening to!
It’s inconsistent like all Sebadoh albums, which is a reflection of how they’re organized and a sort of Minutemen-ish ethos. You’re going to get ballads, noise rock, tongue-in-cheek songs and more. It’s kind of amazing that I had never listened to this album considering I really like III and Harmacy and I’ve listened to every other album. I really can’t explain how I never got to this one, but I’m glad I did. Soul and Fire is super great, and I like a whole lot more. That said, I feel like there are better versions of some of these archetypes in their catalog. Take Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) - it’s a very pretty love ballad. It’s also not as good as Truly Great Thing from III or Willing to Wait from Harmacy.
3/5 - I don't think this is an album of this era you need to hear, but it hits a spot for me. It has several solid tracks with Soul and Fire a clear standout, but Sister, Sacred Attention, and Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) are also really good. This is an album with three separate songwriters, and it really shows, with Barlow easily being the most talented writer of the group. Overall, a good discovery for me, and I'll be back.
Interesting, I've never heard of Sebadoh before and while some of the tracks are just weird and not great there's some that are interesting in different ways. It's not an easy album to describe though Standouts No Way Out Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) 3/5
Something of a Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, Replacements, Guided by Voices hybrid. I love the opening track Soul and Fire. I didn’t get a ton else from the album in terms of head turning moments, but it was a fine album to hear for the first time.
It was definitely a Sub Pop band circa the early 90s. It felt like (and I believe there were) two different song writers for this album, and I definitely preferred one over the other. Overall an ok album, that just didn't do it for me.
Weird one. I didn’t hate it, it’s definitely one of those albums that was the progeny of a new genre, namely that indie emo thing that happened in the early 2000s. Lots of sounds on this that clearly inspired that sound, but it was too out there for me to really love. Worth coming back to to listen again.
Some songs here are really good. I'm a sucker for lo-fi production and experimental song structures. Some of the more... weird songs didn't quite hit for me, which is fine. But it was good to get to listen to this, even if I may never come back to it. 6/10
Strikes and gutters. Well, spares and gutters…8s and gutters…
Pretty good. I like a lot of this! I wanna say 4
Very 90s sound- it grew on me over the course of the album
Dunno how I feel about this one. There's a lot going on and it's clearly the sound of a tight band enjoying their music together, but it all blends into a dizzying mush of inconsistent alt kookiness.
I actually enjoyed this far more than expected to. Which isn’t really saying much.
Good rhythm guitar but overall meh
Early indie rock with some whiffs of emo on it, although I don’t know if either of those genre terms were kicking around in the 90s. There’s even some hardcore elements in here. It’s ahead of its time in its own way. A lot of interesting moments scattered across this album. I came close a few times to really enjoying it, but found myself having to work hard to stay engaged. The vocal delivery is often dulled, which didn’t help. It does pick up as it goes on, but nothing really stuck to my ribs.
Maybe a 3.5. Really a mixed bag.
For a 90s heartbreak album i enjoyed it more than i expected!
Not bad.
Fine Shouldn't be on the list, but good to an extent
Rough edged, kinda-grunge. Sometimes you can hear tinges of Dinosaur Jr (obviously).
Never heard of them, but they weren't terrible! Good 90s album but nothing to write home about! Decent by all standards
7/10
Never heard of Sebadoh before, but that just means that I get to go into this album without any preconceived notions about the band. After listening, I think it's good. It definitely reminds me of Guided By Voices, what with the lo-fi production and such. I liked it well enough there and I like it well enough here. The singing is interesting, but mostly good. The writing is definitely that of an indie album that's for sure. Apparently the work for this album was split pretty evenly between the band's 3 members at the time, which is cool. I do think that the album peaks with its opener, that being the stellar "Soul And Fire." Not every song bangs as much as I'd like, but the album's got some good songs to it. I think this album's alright. I'm glad that I listened to it. I don't know if it needs to be here, but I'm not upset that it is. High 3/5.
Middle of the road, would probably come back to given more time with it