The Folk Implosion

The Folk Implosion started as a Sebadoh side project, teaming Lou Barlow with indie glam-folkie balladeer John Davis. Take a Look Inside the Folk Implosion was a lightweight goof, rocking through 14 catchy songs in 22 minutes, with ramshackle highlights such as "Slap Me" and "Shake a Little Heaven." The story took a strange turn when the Folk Implosion did most of the soundtrack for the cheesy 1995 movie Kids and found itself with an accidental Top 40 hit after Modern Rock radio started playing "Natural One." It wasn't the best song on the soundtrack -- that honor goes to Slint's "Good Morning, Captain" -- but it was adventurous studio pop, meandering around a moody bass line and a Left Banke sample. The success of "Natural One" seemed to break new ground for the band, but the Folk Implosion had no interest in following it up, and Dare to Be Surprised was back-to-basics indie rock. One Part Lullaby was a surprisingly songful return, especially since it appeared just a few months after a lousy Sebadoh album. But the Folk Implosion had picked the worst imaginable time to go major label, and hardly anyone was listening. Davis' solo work on the Shrimper label is swoonier and moonier than the Folk Implosion: Check out 1994's Pure Night first, and then investigate 1995's Leave Home and 1997's Blue Mountains. In 2003 Barlow delivered The New Folk Implosion, recorded without Davis; the result was a bush-league, slightly crisper version of Sebadoh. (ROB SHEFFIELD)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide