Sebadoh : Defend Yourself

This album is fantastic - I have listened about 10 times and the music gets better. Lou Barlow really has an extra emotional edge on this album and Lowenstein is just pure garage punk rock N roll - punch you right in the mouth. The music is pure and produced to perfection - its so nice to hear music that sounds like rock N roll instruments are supposed to sound like - not over-produced compressed crap from major labels. The first track "I Will" will give you goose bumps and make you cry and then motivated you - all in one track. Lowenstein kills it on the title track...and the entire album is great. The Vinyl LP came with MP3 download and 2 bonus tracks.Like with all music their will be haters who just don't get the raw legendary beauty of this album. Music critics are pompous nerds that are usually one step behind. People who want pure 3 member band, real organic music - will love this album. Kurt Cobain loved Sebadoh for the reason that this album is great - its true to the soul of what music should be....

When historians look back at the 1990s, they’ll be puzzled when they stumble across its entry in a musty, arcane tome. It’ll say something like: “The 1990s: 1990-1999, 2013.” This year has been rife with music from the angsty, moody decade that seems to care enough to just keep giving. We’ve seen releases from Pearl Jam, Superchunk, Polvo, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Mazzy Star, Dismemberment Plan, Mark Lanegan, Spin Doctors, Nirvana1, Alice in Chains, Pixies, and maybe even Crazy Town if we’re unfortunate enough. Welp, it looks like Sebadoh is joining the party with Defend Yourself, so let’s throw them on the list!Lou Barlow, the chief songwriter and frontman of Sebadoh, is known for two things: being the chief driving force of Sebadoh, and getting his ass kicked out of Dinosaur Jr. He did a good job at both of these things, but he hasn’t released a full length Sebadoh album in 14 years until now. Defend Yourself comes shortly after a comeback EP released last year (Secret EP) that found the old gang back together.Sebadoh’s big claim to fame was the honesty at the heart of the songwriting. Barlow (and Jason Loewenstein later in the band’s career) was good at putting themselves out there, and listeners were wont to relate. Unfortunately, there aren’t many moments on Defend Yourself that feel as emotionally available as the band’s past work, and in fact, a lot of these lyrics are just kind of amorphous and bland. Are these songs based on real, emotion? Real guilt? Real shame? Real heartbreak? The fact that I have to ask is answer enough. But there are a few moment that really stand out, and the band brings together many of the ingredients that made their catchy, pop-friendly alternative rock2 worth seeking out.But the same thing that hampered most of the releases from the aforementioned list of ’90s artists affects Defend Yourself. It’s just not enough to come back – take Mazzy Star’s Seasons of Your Day, for example. Seasons of Your Day isn’t a bad album by any stretch, and if it were released in the ’90s, it would have been a revelation. However, today’s music has already ingested Mazzy Star’s body of work, altered it, refined it, and progressed beyond it. Doing the same old tricks doesn’t work because the standards are different – the bar is constantly and consistently higher. Defend Yourself is a good record, but it doesn’t improve on the band’s legacy, and it can’t compete with the best of today’s music.I probably should have asked at the beginning of all of this, but are you a Sebadoh fan? If you are, just buy the album. You’ll like it.Key Tracks:“Final Days”“I Will”“State of Mine”

It's great to see Sebadoh making records again. I was somewhat skeptical after years since their last album, but as soon as I started listening, my fears were put to rest. I haven't stopped listening to it since I purchased it four weeks ago. Awesome record by one of the best bands ever. Hopefully we won't have too wait to long for the next release.

For those who have been missing that Sebadoh sound over the years, this will scratch that itch. No need to drone on and on about anything in particular. If you like Sebadoh, buy this and be happy (or melancholy as your mood suits you).

The return of these venerable indie rockers with their 11th studio album after a 14 year hiatus finds them in strong form. The songs build on the band’s previous loose, quirky, frolicking indiestyle, combining equal parts of hooky melodic pop structures and semi-raw, mid-fi post-grungeenergy. Dark, noisy guitars roar with a slacker-punk core one minute and ring with a psychedelicroots/pop spirit in the next. Members have played in Dinosaur Jr., Folk Implosion, Sentridoh.Recalls bands like the Replacements, Pavement, Meat Puppets, Guided By Voices, Superchunk,Beat Happening, Robyn Hitchcock. Sebadoh are like the neighborhood garage band that madeit. They’ll always be a ‘7’ or ‘8’ out of ‘10’ for me. Maybe never at the top of the list, but alwayson it, always fun to listen to, often better than I expect.

I put this at barely three stars rather than two, only because I am excited to have new Sebadoh material. I feel that this album, along with the Secret EP, is a pleasant reminder of one of greatest bands that most people don't know exists. However, speaking strictly of this album, I am underwhelmed.Somewhere between the Secret EP and Defend Yourself is a really good album. Not great, but at least good. Defend Yourself, as it was released, misses the mark. The middle of the album really drops in song quality. The final song is frustratingly weak -- it's confusing because Sebadoh's albums usually conclude with strong material. However, if you fuse the Secret EP and Defend Yourself together, you can create a solid album. I recommend compiling the following tracks:1. Keep The Boy Alive2. Love You Here3. My Drugs4. I Will5. I Don't Mind6. Beat7. Final Days8. State of Mine9. All Kinds10. Defend yr Self11. Let It Out12. Arbitrary HighEvery song on the Secret EP makes my list as they are stronger songs than most of Defend Yourself. I have disregarded the proper Defend Yourself album and listen to this compilation instead.

This album is simply good!! I loved it so much.

Keep doin' what you're doin'!

Banda de culto para iniciados en el rock indie americano. El vinilo muy bien presentado. Imprescindible en tu colección.

fabulous from start to finish, all killer no filler...but stand-out tracks, for me, are...'I Will' 'Defend Yr Self' 'State of Mine' and 'Can't Depend' which is, to these ears, very Lynyrd Skynyrd/Creedence...!!!

Quanti anni sono che i Sebadoh non facevano un disco? Stando ai dati di allmusic da un bel po'.E' un buon ritorno, nonostante avessi alcuni dubbi in merito. Certo non siamo ai livelli di album come Harmacy o Bubble & Scrape che, personalmente, ho consumato.I pezzoni ci sono ("I Will", "Beat", "Once", le mie preferite) e anche il sound è quello tipico dei Sebadoh che comunque risulta un po' datati per i giorni nostri. Ma sono comunque i Sebadoh, giusto la settimana scorsa ho comprato una camicia di flanella a scacchi.Si sente, nell'atto compositivo, una certa maturazione (anche se fa brutto chiamarla così) che alcune volte ricorda i lavori solisti di Lou Barlow (che sagoma che è, appena finito di suonare coi Dinosaur Jr. fugge, presumibilmente, in albergo, invece di girovagare per i camerini. E che buffo che ha perso gli occhiali nell'adriatico) che, almeno a memoria mia (non è che mi sono andato a ripescare i vecchi album dei Sebadoh) non si sentiva nei lavori passati.Forse ai giovinotti, quelli tipo nati circa negli anni del boom del grunge, non piacerà troppo questo album. In fondo a me piace. Anche se, ripeto, non sono più i Sebadoh di una volta.

一聴したときはsebadohっぽくないな、なんか大人しい。ルーも歳やな...と感じたが聞けば聞くほど良くなる感じです。

They came back sounding as good as ever, I Will, State of Mine, Listen...all among their best tunes. OK their are less Lo-Fi songs, but the songs are excellent and a must for indie fans.