[khchris(original)]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

I saw them in the early 90s and they were fucking awful.
That was honestly one of the worst shows I saw in that whole time period, and Lou gave off a vibe of contempt for his own audience that I have seldom seen. When you combine that with the fact that about 5% of that music is even remotely listenable 10 years down the line (this stuff has aged TERRIBLY), I have to say that I also find the fact that people carry a torch for this band very odd.

"Incredible band in the early 90s?" I say no.

Well, apparently their music from the early 90s has been a commodity enough for a "reissue".

I will agree that live, Sebadoh is sometimes hit and miss.

Everyone has their opinions and I respect yours. I just don't agree with it.

Maybe you probably had heard the "overhype" and may have had too high expectations of what Sebadoh were going to be. That happens sometimes, when you hear the hype of a band and you've never heard them, sometimes feeling left out of the loop and then you're like, "well, they must be 'the shit' then" and when you hear/watch it, you tend to be overly critical.

Happens to movies all the time. I'll hear about how great NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE is and would say to myself, "well, this movie better knock my socks off". And I hated it, didn't find one thing remotely genuine about it.

It's as if we all have this, "fuck you, impress me or get out of my face" attitude. We all have gone through this. If you say you haven't, you're a liar. I'm sure someone's going to "defy" and disagree for the sake of "disagreeing with khchris because he was generalizing all of us".

[khchris(original)]

Originally Posted by EMMAh

~ The Jesus and Mary Chain
~ L7 (Why has no one mentioned them?)
~ Soundgarden
~ Nirvana
~ Beat Happening

Probably because they only released 1 album and a 7".

[khchris(original)]

Originally Posted by truncated

I'm not necessarily dumping Sebadoh in the general category of "bad" - I simply could never see why they had such devout fans. Ordinarily I can see the appeal that many bands I dislike have to others (goddamn subjectivity again), but this one just escapes me. I was certainly not trying to be contentious by asking what their appeal is - I was genuinely curious.

Easy.

Honesty.

That's what early Sebadoh was about. It was about feelings, getting feelings out of your system the most honest way(ever heard their "ASSHOLE" 7-inch? It's all Lou talking shit about J).

Sebadoh also was about care free as a band could be. They would record on tape recorders, not giving a shit about quality.

I honestly can't remember another band who touched on feelings as well as Sebadoh when it came to love, adolescents, parents, and even smoking pot. They were fun and honest.

As much as I love smog(Loved FORGOTTEN FOUNDATION and JULIUS CAESAR), Sebadoh really inspired a generation to not be afraid of being honest.

Sebadoh was not about "style", "trend", or "what's cool and current". Their style was about "honesty" and poking fun.

Unless you really got into them earlier on or their early material, you probably missed all of what made Sebadoh so special.

I kinda rank bands by consistency, and to put out 3 incredibly amazing albums in a row is quite an accomplisment that not even more respected bands like Fugazi ever did. Sebadoh's III, Smash Yr Head, and Bubble & Scrape is as good of a 3 album run as SY's Evol/Sister/Daydream Nation. Maybe not as good, but damn close.

Oh yeah, Sebadoh didn't sound like anyone either. It's not like you can listen to Smash yr head or Bubble & Scrape and say, "oh, they sound like SY or (such and such) band), unlike Pavement, Unwound, and some other great bands during that time.

[TheDom]

How did this turn into a Sebadoh thread?

I like them. Bubble & Scrape is my favorite. III could have been an incredible album if they would have edited it to be a single LP's worth of material.

[samantha.]

I had no idea what bands were on Sub Pop, so I had to go to their website to find out...from the list, I'll have to go with The Jesus and Mary Chain, even though they are no longer together.

[Tickerwelly]

Six Finger Sattelite

[Kylerobert]

Were the Vaselines on subpop?

[sonicl]

Originally Posted by sonicl

The Walkabouts - "Hippies with loud guitars". Their "Satisfied Mind" covers album is a truly wonderful thing.

This still stands. I urge you to seek the album out and hug it close to your hearts for the rest of your lives.

[Norma J]

Nirvana. I mean, there was other great bands. But they've been the dearest to my heart since I was younger. And they're the band that got me listening to all that other cool shit.

[k-krack]

Originally Posted by Norma J

Nirvana. I mean, there was other great bands. But they've been the dearest to my heart since I was younger. And they're the band that got me listening to all that other cool shit.

Word up.

[k-krack]

Originally Posted by khchris(original)

I kinda rank bands by consistency, and to put out 3 incredibly amazing albums in a row is quite an accomplisment that not even more respected bands like Fugazi ever did. Sebadoh's III, Smash Yr Head, and Bubble & Scrape is as good of a 3 album run as SY's Evol/Sister/Daydream Nation. Maybe not as good, but damn close.

Are you kidding me?!
Red Medicine, End Hits, The Argument. BANG, three stellar albums after one-another. I still haven't heard the earlier stuff, but I have no doubts that they are all amazing.

[Pookie]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

I saw them in the early 90s and they were fucking awful.
That was honestly one of the worst shows I saw in that whole time period, and Lou gave off a vibe of contempt for his own audience that I have seldom seen. When you combine that with the fact that about 5% of that music is even remotely listenable 10 years down the line (this stuff has aged TERRIBLY), I have to say that I also find the fact that people carry a torch for this band very odd.

"Incredible band in the early 90s?" I say no.

I love your hatred of Sebadoh SC!

I don't hate them, but they were very mediocre to say the least, and a VERY boring live band. I've never understood the adulation myself either.

[gmku]

Originally Posted by Kegmama

Best- obviously NIRVANA
Also- Sleater Kinney!!! Mudhoney, Jesus and the Marychain, Comets On Fire, Green River, Sebadoh, Tad, Earth... and more...

The Jesus and Mary Chain were on Sub Pop? Not in my collection. One of those monthly singles club singles, maybe? But I didn't think they were Sub Pop regulars.

My fave is probably the Dwarves (for their Blood, Guts, and Pussy LP), even though their Sub Pop days were fairly limited.

Next would be the obvious choices: Nirvana and Mudhoney.

I hate the Sub Pop stuff of recent years. It's not "Sub Pop"-ish. It's Pop, period, no Sub. Way too soft and folkie for me, and even The Woods (s/k) is kind of hokey compared to previous s/k product.

[gmku]

I was really into SubPop records back in their grunge/pre-grunge heyday (1989-91), but I remember being made to feel very uncool about it. I loved the bands, and I thought the record packaging was great, but the other music people I hung with thought it was all a bunch of hype and inauthentic compared to the other independent labels like SST and Cruz, et al.

[Savage Clone]

Originally Posted by gmku

I hate the Sub Pop stuff of recent years. It's not "Sub Pop"-ish. It's Pop, period, no Sub. Way too soft and folkie for me...

Well, I would say that they have made some forays into riskier territory recently. The have added Wolf Eyes and Michael Yonkers, and also release DeStijl records' output in CD form while DeStijl still handles the vinyl end. Kinski, also great. Comets On Fire. Great. None of these are soft or folky.
I think they have improved somewhat in the recent past.

[gmku]

My favorite old-man SubPop story I like to tell the kiddies is about how I saw this poster on a telephone pole in Salt Lake City around 1989 or so. It was advertising the Melvins in huge block letters and then in small print underneath this band I'd not heard of called Nirvana. I went inside to the local punk store and told the owner I was excited about seeing the Melvins, because I was listening to the Ozma record I'd just bought in his store a few weeks before, but, I said, who's this Nirvana? He said something like, "Oh, just another one of those hair bands from Seattle. But all the kids are going to see the Melvins."

[gmku]

Picking up Wolf Eyes was a safe bet. The label doesn't take risks like it used to.

[porkmarras]

Anyone who has Ben Chasny on their label is doing allright by me.

[Savage Clone]

Originally Posted by swa(y)

...even though, only a fool would fail to realize that an act like wolf eyes would be profitable

The initial suggestion came from a friend of mine who was joshing the SubPop guys about signing someone who would be a real risk and maybe gain back some cred or edge the label had been seen as losing. He suggested they do a 7", and SubPop decided to do a full album instead.

I would say that signing Wolf Eyes is risky for a label known chiefly of late for releasing Shins and Postal Service albums.

[porkmarras]

Originally Posted by gmku

Picking up Wolf Eyes was a safe bet. The label doesn't take risks like it used to.

It was 'different' back then.I was 'differenet' too.I used to listen to 'Ultra Mega Ok' by Soundgarden(on SST) and think that it was the epitome of music cool.