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SXSW review: Lou Barlow
(10 p.m. Saturday, the Parish)
Lou Barlow, frontman for indie rock group Sebadoh and bassist for Dinosaur Jr, told the audience at the Parish that Merge had invited him to be part of the showcase before they knew he had completed a followup to his 2005 solo release, “Emoh.” Joining him on stage was guitarist Imaad Wasif. In a low key set, which was often overpowered by conversations going on elsewhere in the room, Barlow played a collection of material from his upcoming album, as well as a few from his prior release.
The duo started out with “Too Much Freedom,” with Wasif’s fingerpicking complementing Barlow’s meloncholy folk. Wasif then went electric, adding a more psychedelic tone to the songs. Barlow and Wasif had an appealing musical back-and-forth going on, including on “Good Love,” from the upcoming release, when Barlow slowed the tempo and they played in unison.
Barlow’s songs are powerful, emotionally honest stories of relationships gone awry, and he played them with a rare intensity Saturday night. One standout was “Legendary,” a slow-builder sweetened by Wasif’s song-like guitar accompaniment. Barlow was clearly a little irked by the amount of talking going on, and late in the set he aborted a song, explaining that he and Wasif hadn’t played together in quite some time. It seemed for a moment that the set was about to take a wrong turn, but Barlow recovered and finished strong.
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