Way back in the late 80s, Dinosaur Jr’s bassist went off and formed his own band and while Dinosaur Jr got all the checked shirt grunge cred, Sebadoh have growled away in the background ever since, in between Lou Barlow’s folksy solo releases. There’s plenty of life in the old Doh yet however, and ‘Act Surprised’ is their ninth complete studio full length.
Fans of classic 90s US guitar rock will not be disappointed but is there something here for those of us that didn’t spend much of our formative years worshipping at the altar of ‘In Utero’? You already know if you appreciate bands that sound a bit, or a lot like Foo Fighters and not so many people would readily namecheck Sebadoh as a band that they considered required listening. So far as it goes, ‘Act Surprised’ has a lot to recommend it as a drivetime rock album for those that don’t usually enjoy stuff like this, and Barlow has a keen knack for a melody to offset the powerchord rhythms and he sings as opposed to shouts his words.
So while opener ‘Phantom’ is well performed grunge-by-numbers, that’s just to get our attentions while we decode if we’re ready to rawk or would rather listen to Foals and that other Lou this afternoon. Or even actually Foo Fighters. Thing is, Sebadoh have a lighter touch than a lot of similar bands and while they deliberately or subconsciously refer to that entire Seattle sound thing, Barlow carries the songs with a near effortless skill, a sign that a lot of the tracks on ‘Act Surprised’ perhaps began as acoustic numbers.
Anyone listening to ‘Act Surprised’ and expecting an unremitting powerdriven headbanger is in fact in for a bit of a disappointment. Sebadoh balance their assorted songwriting styles with practised deliberation and the tone of the album mellows audibly until the title track takes us back to proper Grunge/Emo concerns. “Under the bus that’s where you’ll find them / casualties of your own requirements” snarls Barlow in a virulent performance that overrides the less frenetic songs that precede it.
Folk Rock with the emphasis on the R word, Sebadoh’s ninth album is an uncompromising statement from a band that may think they’ve spent too long in the background of better known contemporaries, and a bit of an epic with a lot to recommend it to anyone, all fifteen tracks of it.
‘Act Surprised’ is released on May 24th.