I really ought to read press releases more carefully before downloading albums as I saw the name of this band and just thought they were a folk act, which is not exactly the case. The band were originally formed in 1989 when John Davis sent a tape to Lou Barlow (Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh). They initially gained acclaim and chart success when they provided some songs for Larry Clark’s film ‘Kids’ in 1995, but Davis left in 2000 with Barlow then continuing for a while with different members. Two decades later, the seeds for the duo’s reunion were planted on Facebook. “It was the middle of the pandemic and we were old guy musicians commenting on a lot of the same things,” says Barlow. Davis had recently returned to the Folk Implosion songbook during a solo tour of New Zealand and Australia, where fans encouraged him to reconnect with his bandmate. “There was a moment when I was worried one of us might kick it, or never talk to each other again,” Davis says, “so I decided we should pick it back up.”

Given they were separated by hundreds of miles they found themselves again working on material like they used to in the old days, bringing together indie and art work with a DIY approach and a refusal to conform to any expectations. I must confess to say this is not a style of music I enjoy, just like I have never understood Talking Heads, but songs like “Bobblehead Doll” are frustratingly catchy and stick in the head long after it has finished playing. They use mandolins and banjos in a way one does not expect and after one stops thinking how jarring it can be, one realises here is a band who really are bringing together the kitchen sink in a way which is so far from being commercial that it is spinning on axis and heading straight to radio airplay. One can imagine them listening to Devo and then Neil Young and wondering how they can mess with people’s heads by combining them with The Eels and Dinosaur Jr. I definitely found this to be a grower as I did not really enjoy it when I first heard it, but the more it is played the more one realises there is a lot happening here, and the more it becomes important.

Rating: 8/10

https://open.spotify.com/album/79IUTrcQtcEzJSEjZG7r39?si=B6gFhynwRQyE-GiAQ60SzA

Links:
https://www.instagram.com/folkimplosion/
https://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/