Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown reviews
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| Pitchfork |
 Lou Barlow doesn't need a solo career, really. No matter how you slice the indie rock discography, Barlow is central to anywhere from at least three to as many as 10 canonical releases. Between Dinosaur Jr.'s first three LPs, through the uneven highs of both Sebadoh and Sentridoh and on to D Jr.'s magnetic reunion albums (some might count Folk Implosion... might), Barlow's legacy stands as much more than a footnote. In fact, even calling the output of Barlow-- now 43 and a married, soon-to-be father of two-- a legacy is to date him prematurely. Back in the musically unblemished if personally infamous Dinosaur Jr. trio, he's playing to the biggest crowds and most fanfare of his career. And we're not talking the sort of big gigs where Candlebox or the Spin Doctors shuffle through the hits in your town square (or is that just my town square?) for a few thousand lushes on a summer day, either. Dinosaur Jr. is arguably releasing the best music of its career (and its members' respective careers) right now. Their new records and their distinct history have made them, these days, a very big deal. Not bad for a quarter century, huh?
But Goodnight Unknown, Barlow's second solo LP for Merge Records, offers 14 tracks and 37 minutes of proof that Barlow is neither content with the comforts of his rock band's renewed popularity or with the scattered, shambolic solo discography he's built over two decades as Sentridoh. Though it boasted not only what might be the best song ever about a stray cat ("The Ballad of Daykitty") but also one of rock's quietest moments of devilish heresy ("Mary"), Emoh, Barlow's first album under his own name, often felt too domestic, easy, and assured, as if Barlow got halfway into a track and-- true to his lo-fi heritage-- simply exclaimed, "Fuck it." That makes sense, of course, for an album whose title is "Home" in reverse and which was recorded half alone....full text |
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| Drownedinsound |
I’ve always been of the opinion that J and Lou are really better off without each other. That’s not to say I don’t dig that trio of Eighties Dinosaur Jr albums approved by the All Tomorrow’s Parties mafia. Heaven forbid: Lou’s 'Poledo' was one of the best songs from that era. It’s just that, without whiney milksop Lou, J was able to write FM rock anthems like 'Start Choppin’. And, divorced from the despotic J, Lou went on to create arguably the best U.S. indie rock of the Nineties. Emoh – Lou’s ill advised excursion into ‘mature singer-songwriter’ pastures - aside, Goodnight Unknown continues the trend of being a far more rewarding album than the recently re-formed Dino ones, in the same way that J’s Witch project is also.
Despite the fact things appear peachier in Lou’s life than ever before, there’s still a sense of urgency about parts of Goodnight Unknown. Opener 'Sharing' might be devoid of anything resembling a hook, but is played out with gusto and the requisite soul and fire that make Lou in anxiety attack mode a compelling listen. The title track lends weight to Lou’s concession that he’d been getting re-acquainted with Sixties garage - it lurches with queasy abandon before a phased organ melody positions the song as some kind of lost psyche artifact. Ambivalence has always played a central part to Lou’s lyrical concerns and Goodnight Unknown is no exception, as exemplified by 'The Right'. A wistful, Midi-marimba propelled delight in which Lou ponders "the right to be conflicted", it’s so breezily lovely you’ll want to hug your speakers. Indeed, there’s no paucity of yearning wonder on offer. Sometimes it’s sickly: 'Take Advantage' and 'The One I Call' are the kind of soppy shit you could imagine J balking at and with good reason. 'Faith In Your Heartbeat' and 'Praise' on the other hand are utterly gorgeous, each song chock full of heart-tugging chord changes and that aura of endearing earnestness you only get from Lou. As Courtney Love once suggested, Lou’s the kind of dude you sleep with then find climbing a tree in your backyard with boyish enthusiasm the next morning. Still, he’s as contradictory as ever on the stark and ominous melodic twists that typify 'Modesty': “no one colder than me/No one’s told me that before/now I know that nothing’s simple”....full text |
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| Theskinny |
| On his first solo album since 2005's acoustic Emoh, Lou Barlow, an alternative stalwart who boasts legendary groups such as Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh among his past and present projects, sounds clear-eyed and self-assured. Although this is a collaborative effort that sees notables such as Lisa Germano and the Melvins' Dale Crover helping out, at the centre of this kaleidoscopic shifting sound is Lou himself. An underrated instrument of folky beauty, his voice is alternately smudged to sound disturbingly calm under layers of instrumentation and clear and tender on the tunes most reminiscent of Sebadoh's stellar early '90s work. The beefed-up arrangements are dense but kinetic: acoustic guitar strums that sound alternately like a caress and a stab in the back are layered with curious synths and choppy drumming. The result is an LP that haunts, charms and refuses to be musical wallpaper. In short, he still hasn't lost it....full text |
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