Bubble And Scrape

Released in 1993, BUBBLE & SCRAPE is considered by many fans to be Sebadoh's best album. Former Dinosaur Jr. member Lou Barlow's jangly balladry, Eric Gaffney's dissonant punk jams (dig his pseudo-death-metal growl on "Elixir Is Zog") and Jason Loewenstein's own emerging style (ranging from the mellow "Happily Divided" to the blistering "Flood") combine to create a lo-fi, instrument-juggling stew de force. The record would be Gaffney's last with the band, and he doesn't sound too happy about it, thrashing against the coming of the night via blistering tracks "Fantastic Disaster" and "Telecosmic Alchemy". Barlow's work, meanwhile, is some of his most heart-rending and poignant, particularly the lurching "Homemade", the fragile "Think (Let Tomorrow Bee"), and the Dinosaur-esque "Cliche". Like a drunken poet at a late-night party, this album alternates between melancholy and ferocity, sputtering out gobs of genius even as it lurches, wails, and crashes into the buffet table. After this recording, Loewenstein and Barlow would continue on as a songwriting duo with the sublime BAKESALE, and Gaffney would form his own band, Fields of Gaffney.

NME (8/12/00, p.28)
- Ranked #9 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums".

Rolling Stone (9/2/93, p.61)
- 3.5 Stars (out of 5)
- "...while their sound may be obviously rock--and [BUBBLE AND SCRAPE] is nothin' but--it's still not obvious rock....Sebadoh don't believe in merely recycling their sources. Instead, they reinvent them..."

Spin (5/93, p.83)
- Highly Recommended - "...primitive guitar strums glide along slow-throbbing basslines, with icy jams, occasional roars, and frequent moments of space and tranquility filling out the soundscape..."

Q (7/93, p.100)
- 3 Stars (out of 5)
- "...wanders through Dinosaur-styled emotive pleas to discordant punkiness and twee melodies....a fine, very personal collection with a tub full of hooks which you'll find hard to explain the potent beauty of to disapproving musicologists..."

NME (5/1/93, p.34)
- 8 (out of 10)
- "...BUBBLE AND SCRAPE is alive with the possibility of love and the mournful conviction that love is doomed...."

Entertainment Weekly (4/16/93, p.55)
- "...[Lou Barlow's] anguish is so palpable you just wanna give the songs a hug. Pass the lithium, but don't pass on a listen..." - Rating: B+