March 3- 9, 2005

musicpicks

Lou Barlow

Indie Rawk

It feels weird to say it, but Lou Barlow is now an old-head. The bitter, honey-voiced former leader of Sebadoh (and Folk Implosion and Sentridoh), the tantrum-throwing brat of mid-'90s indie rock, is suddenly "venerable." The release of Emoh (Merge), Barlow's first record just as "Lou Barlow," (the title is second track "Home" spelled backwards) nods to the idea that Barlow's soul-bearing early work provided the foundation for emo. On album-opener "Holding Back the Year," Barlow puts on a clinic: "Hold me back, hold me by the arm / wipe away my tear," he sings, almost winkingly. But Barlow's always been more than mere tearjerker; Emoh's 14 tracks are like a reintroduction to an old friend you'd kind of drifted from. And on "Mary," a love song to the Madonna ("They'd stone us both if they ever knew"), you realize he's also the same button-pushing bastard you loved to hate.

Fri., March 4, 9 p.m., $10, with Rainy River and Michael Nace, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-235-5888, www.thekhyber.com.

—Brian Howard