Sebadoh

Sebadoh is an American band formed in the second half of the 1980s in Amherst, Massachusetts, by Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney. The band was one of the pioneers of the lo-fi style, characterized by low-fidelity recordings, which often used four-track recorders. Among the leading proponents of this style were Pavement, Beat Happening and Guided by Voices.

In 1987, Lou Barlow—at that time the bassist for Dinosaur Jr. – released a collection of songs on cassette titled Weed Forestin, recorded at home using a four-channel recorder, under the name Sentridoh. In Weed Forestin, Barlow played guitar and bass, and Eric Gaffney contributed percussion. The following year, the duo released The Freed Man, also on homemade cassette. The Freed Man was revised, expanded, and released by Homestead Records as Sebadoh’s debut album in 1989, the year in which Lou Barlow was kicked out of Dinosaur Jr. by J Mascis. Later in 1989, drummer Jason Loewenstein joined the band.

In 1990, Homestead Records released a revised and expanded version of Weed Forestin. The following year, The Freed Weed was released, a compilation featuring Weed Forestin and most of the songs from The Freed Man.

The band released new songs in 1991 on the EP Gimme Indie Rock! and on the album Sebadoh III. In 1992, Sebadoh signed with Sub Pop, which released the compilation Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock, featuring tracks from the EPs Rocking the Forest and Sebadoh vs. Helmet, both released that same year by the British label Domino. Bubble and Scrape, the group’s fourth album, was released in 1993. After that album, Eric Gaffney left the band and was replaced by drummer Bob Fay.

In 1994, the band released Bakesale, an album that pointed the band in a new musical direction, moving away from lo-fi and featuring more accessible songs with a refined production. Bakesale was well received by critics and became the band’s most successful album to date, with the singles “Rebound,” “Skull,” and “Magnet’s Coil” standing out. Its follow-up, Harmacy (1996), was also well received on the independent scene.

Bob Fay was replaced by Russ Pollard before the recording of the album The Sebadoh (1999). After the release of that album, the band went on a long hiatus. During this hiatus, Barlow returned to Dinosaur Jr. in 2005. A new album by the band, Defend Yourself, was released in September 2013 on the Joyful Noise Recordings label. In 2019, Sebadoh released their ninth album, Act Surprised.