Sebadoh - "Careful"
(Sub Pop Records, 1994)
Since the Boston Marathon bombing, I've been definitely catching some of the "We are all Bostonians" fever. So my next few posts will be by Massachusetts bands, even though I've never been to that state.
I can't believe I've never posted this absolute scorcher of a song by Westfield's finest, so here it is. I think some of the lyrics can work as a fuck-you to potential terrorists: "It's twice as hard to fool us" and "Careful as a soldier, we're so strong." And the disarming opening line "Drop your guard, I'll get to know you" gives another way to deal with psychopaths. This one was written by bassist / guitarist Jason Loewenstein, not mainman Lou Barlow. J-Loew seems to have been responsible for some of Sebadoh's more manic / edgy / fleshed-out / non-"lo-fi" songs.
[Note: This mp3 is from the original '94 release, not the recent remastered 2-CD reissue. That one has an alternate version of "Careful" on the bonus disc.]
I bought this album, Bakesale, in October 1996, on the same day that I bought Tool's Aenima on the day it came out. My main reasons were: 1.) hearing the infectious indie classic song "Rebound" on a Sub Pop sampler CD called That Virtua Feeling: Sub Pop And Sega Get Together and 2.) a long article about Lou / Sebadoh punningly titled "Kind Of Blue" in Rolling Stone around that time. (I was a subscriber.) I also bought Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock at around this time through Sub Pop mailorder. Despite the awful nude-Lou cover art, Bakesale is one of the most essential albums in rock history, not just indie rock history, from an era when the phrase "indie rock" meant more than just "a rock band on an independent label." Every song is a cornucopia of inventive riffs, melodies and lyrics, and the band never came even close to equalling it before or after. Some of the songs are slow and shoegazey ("Dreams"), and a few are quick and ultra-poppy ("Got It"). It comes off as a great mix tape seemingly made up of songs by many different bands, yet still retains that certain Sebadohness that fans demand.
I was totally crestfallen to miss a Sebadoh concert at the Howlin' Wolf (now called Republic) at the end of January '97. As in: I fucking sat in the living room and watched an episode of 7th Heaven (yes, I remember exactly what I was watching) by myself and felt like such a poseur for liking Sebadoh but not knowing anyone to go see them with. I think this was actually a transformative moment for me, in that it made me determined to go see bands I wanted to see even if that meant sometimes doing it alone. And I later found out that Sebadoh had played just a few months earlier at House Of Blues, with a then-unknown moper / budding junkie named Elliott Smith as an opening act. Then they came back and played somewhere in early '99 in support of their disappointing swan song The Sebadoh. Have still never seen them, and have skipped lots of dates on their recent reunion tours, because I just don't go to reunion tours. And because aside from this album, Sebadoh's overall discography is very hit-or-miss. The only other songs by them that I'd say are in the same category of intensity as "Careful" would be "Beauty Of The Ride," "Crisis," and the speed-metal ending of "Mean Distance."
Loewenstein put out a well-received solo album about a decade ago, but I've never heard it. Dinosaur Jr.'s reunion has taken Barlow away from his Sebaduties. Dino are stuck in a classic rock rut, so I personally would rather take in the more varied stylings of Sebadoh, if given a chance to see one of them or the other. At one point in my life, I would've shouted "Just gimme indie rock!" It's a new generation of electric white-boy blues!
Funniest / truest thing I've seen on Tumblr in a while:
#voodoofest #jazzfest
Sat. Apr. 13: Went to a crawfish boil at Sprague's new house, and he decided to let me landscape it after we talked about trees for an hour or so.
Fri. Apr. 19: Skipped a Crystal Castles / Doldrums concert at HOB because it was $31 plus a $10 "service fee." I had been wanting to go for months but I just couldn't justify the cost. I'm sure it sold out anyway.
Sat. Apr. 20: Caught the end of a Record Store Day concert at Euclid Records. Saw Truth Universal (politically-charged hip-hop), AF The Naysayer (futuristic beatmaking), and Peace Love Technicolor Dream (collaborated on sax with AF, then did a solo house set on MacBook). I then by total chance caught a free happy-hour show by the hilarious Alex McMurray (honestly, he's funnier than any stand-up comedian I can think of) at Siberia, and got some of their excellent Slavic / Russian food.
Tonight and tomorrow night: Skipping Deerhunter for about the infinityith time because I still think they suck, aside from half a song or so per album. The amount of press they continue to get is nothing short of baffling to me. In the '90s heyday of indie rock, a band with their talent level would've barely merited a mention in its own hometown's zines, but I guess by today's standards they're considered edgy / inventive / cool, thanks to the ongoing wussification & dilution of indie rock into mere sonic wallpaper in which bands try to relay to the listener "Okay, on this song we show that we're into the Beach Boys, and on this next one we do an homage to the Replacements, and then we're gonna blow everyone's minds by showing that we dig synth-pop!," etc. "Record-collector rock," it's been wisely called. Well, Deerhunter seem to be one of the token RCR bands of the '00s, so more power to them, I guess, and I do feel bad for the singer since he has Marfan Syndrome and presumably doesn't have too many more years left to live. I don't even know if they have any synth-pop songs; I was mainly referring to the Strokes with that one. I guess I should just shut up at this point. If Deerhunter has any songs that I should like, let me know; I only like "Helicopter" by them, mainly b/c it sounds unlike any of their regular output.
Planets with similar climates: Dinosaur Jr. - "Let It Ride" (1988), The Sound - "The Fire" (1981), Sand Rubies - "Drugged" (1993), Polvo - "Tragic Carpet Ride" (1994), Sonic Youth - "Stereo Sanctity" (1987), Fugazi - "Sieve-Fisted Find" (1989).
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