Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown

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4...according to our Clinton on Thu 01 Oct, 2009.

Old slacker rock warhorses never die. They just reform their old bands and in between tours release solo albums. On the back of touring with the band who once split up and reformed without him, Lou Barlow has unleashed a new solo album entitled 'Goodnight Unknown'. Once some kind of lo-fi demi god, Lou's status has been marred a little in recent years with a series of ropey half baked records. My first thought on seeing this in my review pile is 'what's the point?'......... But why not eh? If he wants to release records then I'm glad. If you like Lou you'll probably find a lot in here to enjoy. "Too Much Freedom" certainly shows he still has a way with a lovely acoustic melody. Strangely despite the first two tracks being noisy the rest of the record seems to be that kind of laid back mellow thing he does. Good. Glad all that's sorted. I'm happy.

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· In the four years since Lou Barlow’s career-redefining, mostly
acoustic record ‘Emoh’, he has reunited with Dinosaur Jr. and
reissued three of Sebadoh’s classic albums. But as the brilliant new
‘Goodnight Unknown’ illustrates, he’s hardly living in the past.
· Borrowing the live band energy of Dinosaur Jr. and the stylistic reach
of Sebadoh, Barlow has built on ‘Emoh’s full production and written a
set of immediate, melodic pop songs that Lou describes as, “a cross
between my later work with Folk Implosion and my earlier work with
Sebadoh…”. From the surging opening track ‘Sharing’ to the
surprisingly soulful performances on ‘The Right’, ‘Goodnight
Unknown’ benefits from Barlow’s tunefulness and his decision to
record the record relatively quickly, with old friends and new. The
Melvins’ Dale Crover adds inspired drum work throughout, and the
albums’ urgent sound owes just as much to frequent collaborator
Imaad Wasif (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Alaska!). The record’s
considerable power also stems from the new talents on board,
including producer Andrew Murdock and Lisa Germano.
· Lou Barlow and The Missingmen will be on tour throughout the
autumn opening for Dinosaur Jr. The Missingmen are guitarist Tom
Watson and drummer Raul Morales. Lou ‘stole’ them from Mike
Watt for this tour, and is excited to be bringing the full band
experience of ‘Goodnight Unknown’.