Sebadoh - Bakesale

Label: Sub Pop
Year: 1994

In a world of mixed bag Sebadoh records, ‘Bakesale’ has got to be the most consistent, the most accessible, and maybe, just maybe, the most bestest. The initial lo-fi ramblings of their first couple albums were trimmed down and amped up here, still damaged pop songs at heart, but now flirting with the grunge mania of the day, to great success. While I’m sure there were grumblings of “selling out” and whatnot at the time, Sebadoh was never in danger of becoming The Lemonheads or nothing. Too weird and too abrasive.
This was the final batch of songs to include the O.G. Sebadoh two piece, drummer Eric Gaffney only appears on four tracks here and was out of the band before the record’s release. Eric’s replacement in the band, Bob Fay, plays on a few songs, and ex-Rodan member Tara Jane O’Neill plays on a few. Bob Weston recorded the first batch of songs at Steve Albini’s house, and Tim O’Heir recorded the rest at Fort Apache in Boston.
Sometimes calming down is the best thing. Not always, but, you know what I mean.

*originally posted 01.17.18, reposted 11.28.21

DL