Slipping out of leftfield and into the February release schedules, the latest album from Boston's lords of lo-fi promises to upset the mainstream rock'n'roll apple cart and put some flavour into the bland American rock pie. Sebadoh have already survived the grunge era, when they were famous for being Kurt Cobain's favourite band, and now they're set to outlast the homogenised Hootie-rock movement, which holds sameness and lack of imagination in high esteem. There's no shortage of ideas on The Sebadoh, and like its predecessor, Harmacy, its appeal is in the almost complete disdain for hi-tech production values, which, let's face it, often get in the way of a good song.
The current single, Flame, for instance, has been compared to a Motown classic, but its crackling, punked-up bass-line and Beck-echoing vocals ensure that it will never be mistaken for a smooth soul standard. Which is nice. But lo-fi values alone don't automatically make for high art - otherwise every no-mark with a four-track would be hailed as a genius. The difference with Sebadoh, however, is that stripped-down songs such as It's All You, Weird On The Way and Colourblind have enough skeletal substance to come alive, and their cracked, unadorned guitar lines shine like uncut gems. The tag-team song writing partnership of Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstein seems to have hit its stride, particularly in slower songs such as Love Is Stronger and blown-valve rockers such as Drag Down. Long live the 'Doh!
