Lou Barlow Is God

Isn't it time we crucified him?

by Chris Parker

Lou Barlow is back. Where’d he go, you ask? Short answer: Los Angeles. But it’s his return from a claustrophobic mental place that’s the true cause for celebration, liberating the New England native from the shackles of past success. After a rough couple years, during which his bands -- first Sebadoh, then Folk Implosion -- collapsed, sending him into a whiskey and speed-fueled funk, Barlow’s returned to the studio and the stage with renewed focus. He’s still leery of the press -- whom he regards with the same mixture of fear and trepidation that D.C.-area residents, until recently, regarded self-serve gas -- but he’s reaching back for the who-gives-a-fuck attitude that propelled his first band, Dinosaur Jr., and his indie rock outfit, Sebadoh.

Freed of any label obligations, Barlow's latest effort is a self-released CD, Free Sentridoh Songs from Loobiecore, which returns to the pioneering lo-fi aesthetic (and his corresponding Sentridoh alias) that went on to launch Sebadoh so many years ago. Of course, like those early self-distributed cassettes, you're unlikely to see a review anywhere, since Barlow didn't bother to send any copies to the press.

"I didn't send it around because I didn't want to see any reviews. Because at this time in my career I'm just asking for people to slaughter me," says Barlow. "I can't deal with it anymore. Writers just love to identify the moment when somebody loses it. They live for that moment, and you can just see it in the language they use to write stuff like that, there's so much joy in this hatred. It's like, alright, Mr. Rock Guy, you are now irrelevant.'

"When you release so many records, there's just this fucking cacophony of opinions that follows you around. It's really tiresome. I mean, I don't feel that way right now, because when I felt that way I just knew what I had to do, you know? I've got to get back into doing my solo shit, and I've got to get this new band together and I've got to do exactly what I want to do," Barlow continues. "When I did that, it was just that wonderful feeling again, which I had in the beginning, where I'm like, I don't give a fuck what anybody thinks.' I don't. This is about me, and writing, and getting these songs that I care deeply about into a, like, releasable form -- doing something that I'm happy with putting out into the world and just letting it go."

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"But there was just a period where I was kind of realizing that Sebadoh was kind of more or less broken up, though, you know, who knows what we'll do, and my partner in Folk Implosion totally fucking -- totally bailed, and it was just like being completely knee-capped at that point, and then to go home to L.A.," Barlow recalls. "Like, Œoh shit, my bands are all dead, and I'm living in Los Angeles.'"

But thankfully (for Lou and his fans), Barlow has crossed over to the other side, and has not only a new perspective on that time, but a new band, also called Folk Implosion (but without the AWOL John Davis). They just finished recording their new album, called The New Folk Implosion, echoing the dry humor of Public Image Ltd.

"I was unconsciously taking from the masters," laughs Barlow, describing the album as "nine songs all over five minutes long. But there are some acoustic-flavored ones, and some that sound totally like Black Sabbath, you know? I wrote the songs with my band, but it just feels like the first time I really did a fully realized rock album and it was all my own kind of thing.

"There is still stuff that's very similar in vein to the last Folk Implosion record -- we've got two cut-and-paste songs, two like almost totally live acoustic songs, then like five real rock songs," says Barlow. "Since Sebadoh is totally back-burner or whatever, this is the only thing I have going so I want to put everything that I want to do into one thing, which I've never done."

The album should be out early next year, though you may have a chance to get an early taste, since his band has their own project, Alaska, opening for the solo Barlow. Lou played a little guitar on their new album, and may actually appear with the band during their set, and, one suspects, vice versa.

Lou Barlow plays Mon., Nov. 4, 8 p.m., $10, with Alaska and Earli Mart, North Star, 27th and Poplar sts., 215-684-0808.