''Harmacy'' is the sixth album by American
indie rock
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...
band
Sebadoh
Sebadoh () is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for hi ...
. It was released by
Sub Pop in 1996.
It is the second and final Sebadoh album to feature drummer
Bob Fay, who replaced founding member
Eric Gaffney
Eric Gaffney (born December 25, 1967, in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an American songwriter and recording artist, and has been home recording on cassette since 1981. An active participant in the Western Mass hardcore scene, in 1983 he founded ...
in 1994.
The album cover features a photograph of a
pharmacy in
Cashel, Ireland, taken by band member
Jason Loewenstein
Jason Loewenstein (born July 20, 1971) is an American alternative rock singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and a member of the indie-rock bands Sebadoh, The Fiery Furnaces, and Circle of Buzzards. He grew up in Northampton, Mass ...
on tour. The missing "P" gave the album its title.
Music
As with its predecessor, ''
Bakesale
''Bakesale'' is the fifth album by American indie rock band Sebadoh, released by Sub Pop in 1994. It was the first Sebadoh album released following the departure of founding member, Eric Gaffney, though he did drum on four of the album's tracks f ...
'', the songwriting on ''Harmacy'' was handled primarily by Loewenstein and founding member
Lou Barlow, with Fay contributing the lone track, "Sforzando!", and the band covering "I Smell a Rat" by American
hard rock band
The Bags. Their cover was featured on the soundtrack for the 1998 American comedy-thriller film ''
Homegrown''.
Like ''Bakesale'', the album was a "(relatively) polished production",
and featured pervasive use of electric guitars and longer song structures, marking a clear departure from the band's
lo-fi
Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...
, often
acoustic earlier albums like their release, ''
Sebadoh III
''III'' (or ''Sebadoh III'') is the third album by the American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released by Homestead Records in 1991.
''III'' was the first full length Sebadoh album to feature Jason Loewenstein, who joined the band's two foundi ...
'' (1991).
Solo acoustic versions of "On Fire" and "
Willing to Wait" were released prior to the album's release, on the 1994 "
Rebound" single and the 1995 compilation ''
Rare on Air, Volume 2: KCRW Live'', respectively.
Reception
Released in the wake of Barlow's
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...
hit, "
Natural One
"Natural One" is a song by the band The Folk Implosion.
The song was written by Folk Implosion's lead member Lou Barlow and Orbit bassist Wally Gagel, who also produced the song.
It was released as a single in 1995, and was featured on the sou ...
", with his band
The Folk Implosion
The Folk Implosion is an American band founded in the early 1990s by Lou Barlow and John Davis. It was initially a side-project started by Barlow to explore different territory than that being canvassed with his primary band at the time, Sebadoh. ...
, ''Harmacy'' became Sebadoh's first charting album in the U.S., expanding on the success of ''Bakesale'',
and yielding the
Modern Rock Tracks hit, "
Ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
".
The album was well received by critics, albeit less so than ''Bakesale''. Stephen Thompson of ''
The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...
's'' ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' wrote that ''Harmacy'' "doesn't have ''Bakesale''s considerable staying power as a whole, but the strong balance of soft pop songs ("Too Pure", "Perfect Way", the elegant pop ballad "
Willing to Wait") and abrasively
punky rock songs ("Love To Fight", "Mind Reader", "Can't Give Up") still holds together somehow."
''Harmacy'' was included on several year-end lists in 1996, including ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' "Ten Best Albums" (#8), the ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
''s "
Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll" (#36), and the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''s critics' poll (#38).
Proposed reissue
The album was supposed to be reissued in 2011, along with ''Bakesale'', but never was. In a 2012 interview with ''blurredvisionary'', Barlow explained, "
ey wanted me to
eissue ''Harmacy''and I absolutely don’t want to pursue it at all. I just can’t get excited about that record...I think anyone can find it and I don’t know how we could improve upon it unless we included the b-sides from that time, but the b-sides we did from that time I don’t know they were that great."
Track listing
#"On Fire" (Barlow) – 3:36
#"
Prince-S" (Loewenstein) – 2:52
#"
Ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
" (Barlow) – 2:46
#"Nothing Like You" (Loewenstein) – 3:09
#"Crystal Gypsy" (Loewenstein) – 1:29
#"
Beauty of the Ride" (Barlow) – 2:48
#"Mind Reader" (Loewenstein) – 1:50
#"Sforzando!" (Fay) – 3:30
#"
Willing to Wait" (Barlow) – 3:32
#"Hillbilly II" (Loewenstein) – 1:59
#"Zone Doubt" (Loewenstein) – 2:18
#"Too Pure" (Barlow) – 3:46
#"Worst Thing" (Loewenstein) – 2:55
#"Love to Fight" (Loewenstein) – 0:54
#"Perfect Way" (Barlow) – 2:49
#"Can't Give Up" (Loewenstein) – 2:02
#"Open Ended" (Barlow) – 3:28
#"Weed Against Speed" (Barlow) – 2:55
#"I Smell a Rat"
(Jon Hardy, Jim Janota, Crispin Wood) – 1:34
Personnel
*
Lou Barlow – lead vocals (tracks 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18), guitar (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18), bass (tracks 2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16), mellotron (tracks 9, 12, 17), synthesizer (track 1)
*
Jason Loewenstein
Jason Loewenstein (born July 20, 1971) is an American alternative rock singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and a member of the indie-rock bands Sebadoh, The Fiery Furnaces, and Circle of Buzzards. He grew up in Northampton, Mass ...
– lead vocals (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16), guitar (tracks 2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16), bass (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 17), drums (tracks 8, 15, 18, 19)
*Bob Fay – drums (tracks 1-7, 9-14, 16, 17), bass (tracks 8, 15, 18), lead vocals (track 19)
Additional personnel
*Mark Perretta – lead guitar and bass (track 19)
*
Wally Gagel
Wally Gagel is an American, multi platinum, award-winning record producer, audio engineer, mixer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. His current work with Blondfire, Zella Day, Best Coast, Hunter Hunted, The Mowglis and Redlight King has garne ...
– engineer (tracks 3, 6, 10, 11, 14, 17), mixing (tracks 3, 6, 10, 11, 14)
*Eric Masunaga – engineer (tracks 2, 7, 8, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19), mixing (tracks 2, 8, 13, 15, 18, 19)
*Tim O'Heir – engineer (tracks 1, 3-6, 9-12, 14, 17), mixing (tracks 1, 3-6, 9-11, 14, 17)
*
Bryce Goggin – mixing (tracks 7, 12, 16)
*
Charles Peterson – photography
Charts
Album
Singles
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmacy
1996 albums
Sebadoh albums
Sub Pop albums
Domino Recording Company albums
City Slang albums