Lou Barlow

The name Lou Barlow always comes up when discussing low-fidelity indie rock, so it's odd that he's never put out a solo record. A crucial part of Sebadoh, Folk Implosion, and early Dinosaur Jr., Barlow has made records by himself before, under the name Sentridoh, a project that always seemed like it was intended as an acoustic incarnation of Sebadoh. But there's something far more personal going on with Emoh. Amid flourishes of synthesizer and softly hit drums, Barlow's compositions here are based around straightforward acoustic guitar strums and almost exclusively love song lyrics. The resulting collection is far closer to the soft folk of people like Iron & Wine's Sam Beam than to the flailing underground rock of Sebadoh, reaffirming the cult hero's spot as one of the more prolific and diverse songwriters of his generation.