Future Mythologies

I have a newfound respect for Lou Barlow after listening to "Natural One" for the first time since it was on the radio in 1995 or whatever. I've never really dug much of his music, though it's probably because I don't give it the proper time, more than anything else. Sebadoh III starts off promising, but starts to fall apart after "Violet Execution". It seems that Sebadoh's reputation with the critics falls a little bit each year, and they're one of the "classic" 90's bands it seems it will be easiest to forget about. "Natural One" was a great radio hit though, especially when you think about the last time you heard anything like this recently. Actually, you probably have, you just didn't realize it was the same because it didn't have any indie-cred. This song is great because it's all sleeky sinister and lo-fi at the same time. We open with a synth wobble straight out of "Energy Flash" which wiggles out of the way just as the first verse comes in. Now it's voice, bass, guitar and drums (surprise, it's a grunge song!). Chorus adds keyboard and percussion, and the guitar break afterword brings you back to that mysterious territory that the synth came from. We have a pop song with all the trimmings, but the voice has all of Lou Barlow's typically indie self-effacement and unsurity. And the beat is loose - the drums play a slightly different tempo than the percussion. After the second chorus we get the break. That synth wobble comes back to replace the drums and it feels like that big comedown toward the end of "Acperience." When the drums kick in again you realize how great the beat always was. Play the beat back from the start - subtle EQ shifts on the snare like it's shifting time and space.
The lyrics are suggestive like the rock n' roll of old. Come with me and I'll show you all the bad things we can do when the parents are gone. We'll get loose after the chorus. When that delayed guitar line plays, they won't be able to see us. Let's slip away during the break. The world is falling down, it may as well crash with me.