When you used to buy Sebadoh records from your local independent store you once would have complained if Lou Barlow was not allowed to fill a whole album with his constant inability to get on with women. Jason though has always been a contributor and second songwriter in Barlow’s ten-year mission to get Dinosaur Jr out of his system. Where Lou’s relationship with J Mascis resulted in throwing a few mud pies at each other, Jason has always felt comfortable in tagging along with Lou; as long as he gets some songs on the albums.
Loewenstein through slowly submitting work to Sebadoh has developed a reputation as a talented foil, offsetting Lou’s indie patented angst with a less irritated and relaxed take on dating people around the mid-west. Now given full rein, on At Sixes and Sevens, the debut solo album by Jason allows him at last to don and wear proudly the big bandleader’s hat. Of course being in an indie-rock band would never necessarily lead to gigantic ego-battles akin to Motley Crue over eyeliner, At Sixes And Sevens does allow him to write, record and edit himself a collection of songs which have been gathering dust due to other commitments.
Like other incarnations of the independent spirit, although not a defining style, Jason as part of the alternative rock scene in America has always delighted in channeling exhausted old rock cliches like guitar solos and big metal-riffery as a slight in joke. But where the exercise in mimicry takes on an affecting form is in the toned down and tight style of short pieces found in early Husker Du and on this album; self-indulgence is exchanged for self-expression. The album has an amazing start played out in no time. Codes restricts itself in flair to be interchangeable with current garage-rock trends without forgetting Jason’s debt to the eighties alternative mantra of short, loud, fast, as defined by The Minutemen. Casserole, Angle and Circles keep within the no more than three minutes rule of power-pop, although Jason may be loath to admit that.
With fourteen tracks in all and the same style applied throughout you can either find this album an endurance test, waiting for it to finish, or mining through the sheer number of tracks to find great little songs in Roswell To Jerusalem and Mistake. If you LOVE Sebadoh you might be inclined towards the former because where Jason balances out Lou in the band, Jason by himself does not have Lou performing the duty he has so admirably done for Lou. Outside of not being able to remove Sebadoh from the brain At Sixes And Sevens has at least allowed us to see what has been on his chest for a long time.
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