The reunited Sebadoh today announced plans to release its first new album in 14 years this September, a record titled Defend Yourself that follows up last year’s comeback Secret EP and that new label Joyful Noise Recordings claims “marks a return to the self-recorded DIY ethos of early Sebadoh albums (Bakesale, Sebadoh III).”
The album is due out Sept. 17 (it’s out a day earlier in the U.K. on Domino), but is being preceded by a re-release of 2012’s Secret EP — which actually has been streaming on Slicing Up Eyeballs since last July — by Joyful Noise. The EP will be newly available as a digital release, on 10-inch black vinyl and on super-limited 10-inch green marble vinyl (which already sold out).
In a Q&A on Joyful Noise’s site, bandleader Lou Barlow, of Dinosaur Jr, discusses the new record, the band’s first since 1999′s The Sebadoh:
I’m relieved that we were able to find the time to make a new LP happen & surprised at how well it seems to hang together conceptually. I’m also pleased that we kept to ourselves during the recording & didn’t have much, if any, outside intervention. That, to my mind, makes it a true Sebadoh record & aligns the style of Defend Yourself with our early releases.
I used more 4 string guitar on this record than any record since Bakesale. Also, we tuned lower & I reverted back to the downstroke strumming style that I used early on. I made a conscious effort to do what felt the most natural as opposed to trying to streamline the sound as I did with some of the songs on The Sebadoh & Harmacy.
In advance of the album’s release, Sebadoh — featuring Barlow, Jason Loewenstein (who joined in 1989) and recent addition Bob D’Amico on drums — has a short run of dates lined up in the western U.S.
See dates below:
Sebadoh tour dates:
July 30: Bootleg Theater, Los Angeles, CA
July 31: Cafe du Nord, San Francisco, CA
Aug. 2: Bunk Bar, Portland, OR
Aug. 3: Barboza, Seattle, WA
Aug. 5: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
Aug. 6: Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO
Aug. 9: Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix, AZ
Aug. 10: The Casbah, San Diego, CA
Aug. 11: The Constellation Ballroom, Santa Ana, CA
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Stream: Sebadoh’s ‘Secret’ EP — first new music from Lou Barlow & Co. in 13 years
- Dinosaur Jr to reissue 1st three albums in cassette box set — plus bonus Sebadoh tape
- Sebadoh reissuing ‘Bakesale’ and ‘Harmacy,’ embarking on ‘Remembering Time’ U.S. tour
- Lou Barlow releasing ‘Goodnight Unknown,’ opening for himself on Dinosaur Jr tour
