3anuarp 22, 1993
Sebadoh: a new religion
Jonathan White
Staff Writer
I was sitting in church last
week...Preacherman, he say,
"You too can be a disciple.
Come out with it! Rise up
off your feet and meet me,
right here, and let us all give
it up for God!" At this par
ticular moment I jumped up,
hands outstretched to the
heavens, and belted, "I'm
so jealous of Jesus!"
I have discovered a new
religion (in music, that is).
Lou Barlow and Eric
Gaffneyare Sebadoh, a new
group fallen from grace. The
album is tided The Freed
Weed, formerly two albums
that were originally released
on cassette.
But now you can get Weed
Forestin and The Freed Man on
one compact disc! Both albums
The Kountess Suggests
Louisa Spaventa
Staff Writer
More Boy, Less Friend from
Sprinkler:
Spouts with power a skillful
flow that at times reaches the im
pact of a hurricane and strips you
of your skin so that you submit to
the forces of greater music. Vo
cals so agreeable you could shake
their hands and drum beats that
lead you into deep, confusing, me
tallic blue catacombs. You are
bridled with fear of good music;
"Jr. Loaded" and "Blind" hit the
windshield with terrifying veloc
ity. In your zombified state you
accept the fever of Sprinkler- pick
of the litter for 1993.
Smeared from Sloan:
The epitome of a college target
band. Well-mapped lyrics and
melodies that live up to your wild
est dreams. Like getting a fantas
tic back rub, each chorus puts pres
sure on the tight muscles around
the shoulder blades and neck. You
get great happiness by hearing
songs live beyond their potential,
kinetically reaching new plateaus.
Very well produced- palatable like
rubbery eggs, but almost too
perfect to take out of the
package. Suggested tracks:
"Underwhelmed." "Left of Cen
ter," (a ia Lou Reed), and "Two
Sealer" ( a distortion party).
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Sebadoh The Freed Weed
include, what I would venture to
call, Well-Fed-Dead-Folk songs.
The albums sound like they were
recorded on a 4-track recording
' ' ' "" " ''' V
xs
iQm
Sprinkler
One day a rubberband wrapped
itself around a lemon. Together,
these things bounced downstairs
to the musty, damp, rat-loving base
ment and crawled into a mildewed,
velvet coffin where they sang
Fugazi songs to each other while
drunk on Mad Dog 20/20 and
played bass till daylight. This might
somewhat describe the surreal at
mosphere of this album's addic
tive content. Try "Slow Hand" or
"Horse Sweat."
Oren Bloedow (self-titled):
He's a man. He writes songs.
He's great. Funktual song pattern
led by princely vocals and punctu
ated by assorted horns. Would
appeal to ihe Joe Jackson fans to
the Pavement audience (big, wide
gap). Lyrics worthy of investiga
tion and a very loose-collared feel
to the whole project. "Sleaziness
Perspectives
instrument filled with
static, weeping vo
cals, out-of-tune
acoustic guitars, and
some misplaced per
cussion.
Lou Barlow is no
newcomer to this
sound; he used to be
the bass player for
Dinosaur Jr. You can
hear the beginning of
| his sound in "Poledo"
a off of Dinosaur Jr.'s
You're Living All
Ifr Over Me.
Songs ranging
from the self affirm
ing "Jealous Jesus,"
to the haunting
"Sexual Confusion,"
to the self destruct
ing "Punch in the Nose" will
stick in your head just like a crown
of thorns.
is when you want something/That
you think you don't deserve/ And
you try to get it in a way that/
Someone who didn't deserve it
would" (from "Sleaziness").
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out
Mike Livingston
Staff Writer
FLASHBACK: Late 1991.
George Bush does not plan to
attend the unprecedented UN.
Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED, the Earth
Summit). Environmental groups
yell and scream until he changes
hisnund: he' U attend, he says, but
he won't sign the critical
Biodiversity treaty or ihe morato
rium on the export of toxic waste.
He won'i sign anything. But he's
the Environmental President, ami
he'd be happy lo have his picture
taken at UNCED.
FLASHBACK: June 1992.
Thousandr of students, some on
hunger strike, rally and keep vigil
on six continents. Their message,
signed by student groups from
over 120 nations: The Earth Sum
mit has been sabotaged. If the
U.S. doesn't acknowledge the
treaties, why bother? It's just a
photo-op for George.
FLASHBACK: November 3,
1992. The government of the
United o tates is ousted.
This week: Our first post-Cold
War government is installed, and
the nation celebrates with an in
volved and hopeful spirit it has
not known since the end of World
War 11. Still, the new President
hasn't promised to sign the
UNCED treaties, and the new Sen
ate hasn't prom ised to ratify them.
The North American Free Trade
Agreement promises to be one of
the major controversies of the de
cade. We're still policing the
world, at least when we feel like
it But is it possible —having
unloaded the dead weight f >f the
Rsaganbush Era— to pilot the
listing hulk of the Earth Summit
along the course to sustainable
global community?
QUNO director Steve Collett
will join us next week to address
the question in detail; meanwhile,
we can try a quick measurement
of the distance between ac Li v is i> *
dreams and the nation's reality.
It's simple: how does the nation
Efie (gmiltortnan
feel?
During the holidays, Washing
tonkin magazine asked members
of D.C.'s cultural establishment
—journalist*, bgokstore owners,
performing artists how they
expected the new government to
affect the social atmosphere of
thecity. (Maybe it'san odd ques
tion, but consider: the whole Fed
eral establishment is about to get
younger, more energetic, and
more optimistic. If Washington
traditionally an ulcer of a tow n
is becom ing kinder-gentler, so
will the Federal government it
self, and so too the country.)
The magazine reported plenty
of optimism, but the striking prop
erty of the public mood is that it's
decentralized, not centered on
Clinton; as one respondent ex
plained, Clinton is just a catalyst,
nudging the national psyche past
the Reagan Era so "people... feel
better about themselves, and that
has a positive effect."
A caterer saw official govern
ment events becoming more re
laxed and lively. A bookseller
saw more people reading about
public policy and current issues
taking an interest in participa
tory democracy. And even Tom
Shales, the Washington Post's
designated cyme, looked for "a
new positivism on TV and on talk
shows... we' ve had enough whin
ing."
If "the optimism thing" catches
on, and Isn't derailed by contin
ued "maneuvers' 1 in Iraq (pay at
tention, Bill), then a nation so
excited can accomplish a lot.
Even, with patience, meaningful
strides toward sustainable
economy.
George Bush swerved, and the
Earth Summit wasa bigcar wreck.
To our credit as a nation, we re
sisted the morbid urge to stopand
rubberneck, or do further damage
with our bungling first aid. We
got ourselves a new driver and
new maps, and as then-Senator
Gore said in his victory speech
it is time for us to go.
Earn Serious
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