By Tim Lee
For fans of lo-fi indie rock, Sebadoh is a household name, especially for those fans residing in and around the Massachusetts area. For those who aren’t already familiar with the duo, “The Freed Man” is not the best introduction to one of indie rock’s more important bands.
Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow were petulant punk rockers who had contributed to countless bands in both the Boston and Western Massachusetts scenes. Barlow was most notably a member of the psychedelic punk band Dinosaur Jr.
“Freed Man” is a collection of demos recorded in the mid to late ’80s, as Gaffney puts it in the liner notes, “while smoking pot in Greenfield Massachusetts” and reissued on Domino records. Lou admits that most of the songs were recorded separately by both of the collaborators and much of the music sounds fragmented.
“This record was intended to be a mess,” Lou writes, “a stinking garden of delights.” Upon first listen the uninitiated Sebadoh listener will find just that. A mess. However, it is upon further review that the true beauty of the angst of two snotty punks breaks through on “Freed Man.”
“The Freed Man” is comprised of 52 songs clocking in at about 80 minutes. Many of these songs are just dubbed interstitials of television commercials and even Eric’s snoring cat. It is truly an experiment in lo-fi recording, done solely on four tracks and tapes bought from Radio Shack. These demos were originally sold by the band for 99 cents a piece.
“The Freed Man” is dark, and angry lyrically, a portrait of 21-year-old kids dealing with depression and general anxiety. The stand out track “Healthy Sick” is a beautiful folk song about Barlow’s own anxieties. “Healthy Sick” is at least worth a download on iTunes, or even the purchase of “The Freed Man” alone. The listener can’t help but sympathize as Barlow sings “Because I have my doubts I know it must be true/ I watch the dream die everyday/ I don’t know what to do/I know it’s only fear that makes me wonder/ but I wonder why I’m so afraid.”
The album is at times chaotic, beautiful, depressing and humorous, essentially an exact replica of a burgeoning adult mind. It is obsessed with love, sex, anger and despair. It is the work of two very self aware and two very clever musicians and lyricists. All that aside, if one wants a true introduction to Sebadoh, later works on Sub Pop Records, “Harmacy” and “Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock,” are better, more coherent records. If one is already a fan or a fan of music that is extremely experimental, however, then “The Freed Man” is a solid record.
Sebadoh release “The Freed Man” on Domino Records, a collection of demos almost 20 years old. (sebadoh.com)