Reunited Sebadoh hits full spectrum

Lou Barlow, Bob D'Amico and Jason Loewenstein are back on the road as Sebadoh, one of the leading lights of the mid-'90s post-grunge indie-rock scene.Jason Loewenstein

Lou Barlow has been revisiting his past.

The singer and guitarist for the Massachusetts trio Sebadoh, which performs Saturday at the Hi-Tone Café, has been listening for the first time in years to the band's classic mid-'90s albums Bakesale and Harmacy, which are being reissued by Sub Pop Records. (The deluxe edition of Bakesale, featuring the remastered original album plus a second CD of period B-sides, EP tracks and rarities, came out on June 14; Harmacy has no release date as of yet.) His assessment is mixed.

"Listening to Bakesale again was quite a nice surprise," Barlow says of the lo-fi masterpiece, which, coming on the heels of the departure of Sebadoh co-founder Eric Gaffney, marked his ascendancy as one of indie rock's top songwriters. "I didn't think it was that great of a record. I mean, I really liked the songs, but I didn't think I'd like the recording very much when I listened to it again. But I actually liked it. That was kind of surprising because I was always kind of harsh on that record."

Barlow is less bullish about Harmacy, the follow-up that seemed to strive for mainstream acceptability.

"I have a hard time with that record," he says. "I think it's overproduced, a lot of it. I tried to sort of polish a lot of my songs, and I think that was kind of a mistake."

Though those two records, perhaps the group's most popular, are at the front of the news, the whole wide spectrum of Sebadoh -- a band known for its erratic ways, veering from record to record, sometimes from track to track, between pop ambition, sonic experimentation and incisive folk -- is on display on their current tour, Barlow says.

Barlow first came to the attention of alternative-rock fans in the '80s as a founding member with guitarist J Mascis of the harder-edged, more aggressive Dinosaur Jr. Barlow soon found himself marginalized in that band and began Sebadoh (a name Barlow just made up) as an outlet for his own songwriting.

Working with drummer Eric Gaffney, who was interested in sonic collages, Barlow released a couple of tapes under the moniker in the late '80s. Then Mascis fired him from Dinosaur Jr., Barlow made Sebadoh, which now included bassist Jason Loewenstein, his full time project, and the band signed with Sub Pop in 1991.

Gaffney left the band in 1994, but throughout the decade Sebadoh, along with contemporaries like Pavement and Guided By Voices, came to epitomize the gritty, raw, often challenging post-grunge lo-fi music scene. The band was at its peak during the Bakesale/Harmacy era.

"It was just a really good period," Barlow says. "I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I was definitely like in my late 20s or early 30s, and I was writing a lot of songs and having a really good time. Going on tour but also staying at home a lot and writing songs. I just remember it being a really fertile time."

Despite the good times, the band made just one more record, 1999's The Sebadoh, and then went on hiatus. Barlow began a solo career and in 2005 reunited with Dinosaur Jr., with whom he stills plays. Following the current Sebadoh tour, Dinosaur Jr. goes out in December, and in January both bands will be a part of a bizarrely conceived indie-rock-themed cruise headlined by Weezer, with Barlow and Mascis also both doing solo sets.

"The two gigs are totally different," Barlow says of his dual musical lives. "Dinosaur Jr. is obviously J Mascis' band. I'm definitely there to help and to add songs to some records and to add color to it. But it's his deal. He takes half the money and gets all the endorsements. He reaps the benefits of the name and (drummer Emmett Jefferson "Murph" Murphy) and I are the guys who go out on the road, and that's how we make our money with the band."

In 2007, Barlow, Loewenstein and Gaffney reunited, sparking off a new round of touring and the reissue campaign. (Gaffney has since left the band, replaced by drummer Bob D'Amico.) In the coming months, Barlow is planning to keep the nostalgia trip going with a vinyl rerelease of the band's 1987 effort, Weed Forestin', an acoustic record that many fans consider to be Barlow's best and most heartfelt work.

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Sebadoh with Mazes and the Perfect Vessels

Saturday at the Hi-Tone Café, 1913 Poplar. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission: $12, available at the door and in advance at hitonememphis.com. For more information, call (901) 278-8663.

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After that, he promises, Sebadoh will turn their focus forward again after more than a dozen years.

"We're going to start working on a new record next year, probably in the spring," says Barlow, who attributes the long pause to nothing more than busy schedules.

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