''III'' (or ''Sebadoh III'') is the third

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, 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 mu ...

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 his ...

. It was released by

Homestead Records Homestead Records was a Long Island, New York-based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading that operated from 1983 to 1996. The label was known for not paying its artists and not spending any money on promotion. History The l ...

in 1991. ''III'' was the first full length Sebadoh album to feature

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 ...

, who joined the band's two founding members

Lou Barlow Louis Knox Barlow (born July 17, 1966) is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock mus ...

and

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 1989, and debuted on the "

Gimme Indie Rock ''Gimme Indie Rock'' is a 7-inch EP by Sebadoh, released in 1991. First pressing comes on clear vinyl and black vinyl. Later reissued on translucent green vinyl and on marbled gray vinyl. The EP was included in its entirety on the reissued vers ...

" single earlier that year. The album cover features a childhood photograph taken by Gaffney.

Recording

The album was recorded for . It was recorded at

Fort Apache Studios Fort Apache Studios is a New England recording studio focusing on alternative rock sessions produced there since 1986. History The studio was initially built by a collective begun in 1985 by musician/producer Joe Harvard and members of a band ...

, then located in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, and at home, during the last two weeks of March 1991.

Music

''III'' features songwriting contributions from all three band members, with folky, melodic material by Barlow, open-tuned drone acoustic, and noisy

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

rock by Gaffney, and songs that bridged the gap between those extremes by Loewenstein. It opens with the

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

"The Freed Pig," an attack by Barlow on his ex-bandmate J. Mascis, who kicked him out from his former band

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...

in 1989. In an interview with ''Chairs Missing Fanzine'' in April 1991, Barlow explained that the album contained "Every type

f music F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

that we're capable of playing but not like, 'Well, here's our

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

song and here's our folk song.' It's just every facet of our power is exercised to its fullest on the record ... There's a lot of electric stuff - a lot of 4-track stuff. It's a really balanced LP. This one is truly a group effort."

Reception

Along with Pavement's 1992 debut ''

Slanted and Enchanted ''Slanted and Enchanted'' is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Pavement, released on April 20, 1992 by Matador Records. It is the only Pavement album to feature drummer Gary Young. The album received critical acclaim and is ...

'', ''III'' is considered one of the "cornerstones of 90s

," and helped establish the

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 ...

subgenre. The album has been included in various best-of lists in the years since its release, including '' Alternative Press''' "Top 99 of '85–'99" in 1995 (#85) and '' Spin's'' "Top 90 Albums of the 90's" in 1999 (#41).

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

praised the "sensitivity" and "strong melodies" of Barlow's acoustic material, and called the album "a kaleidoscopic summation of various American underground rock genres of the '80s, as well as a launching pad for the introspective obsessions of '90s indie rock." Upon its reissue in 2006, Brandon Stosuy of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' wrote that "even after taking a step back from ''III'' it still deserves every last bit of praise. Sebadoh followed this effort with other fine moments; nowhere else did they so perfectly meld rickety folk, tin-can guitar, Shrimper-style ambiance, feedbacking "power sludge," eccentric compositional constructions, carcinogenic hooks, and poetic sincerity." "The Freed Pig" was covered by the American indie rock band

The Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ...

on the ''

Head to Toe "Head to Toe" is a song recorded by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam that appeared on their 1987 album ''Spanish Fly''. The song hit number one on three charts: ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 20, 1987, the Hot Black Singles charts on May 30 of that year, ...

'' EP in 1994. "Spoiled" was re-released on the ''

Kids Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to: Common meanings * Colloquial term for a child or other young person ** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age * Engage in joking * Young goats * The goat meat of young goats * Kidskin, lea ...

'' soundtrack in 1995, and can be heard during the film's

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the Cast member, cast and Film crew, crew of a particular Film, motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear clos ...

Reissue

''III'' was reissued by Domino Records in 2006, featuring a second disc of extra material and new

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

. The bonus disc includes the "Gimme Indie Rock" EP in its entirety.

Track listing

All songs written by Lou Barlow unless otherwise stated. #"The Freed Pig" – 3:08 #"Sickles and Hammers" (

Boon Boon may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Boon (game), a trick-taking card game * ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells * ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick * The Ultimate Boo ...

Watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

) – 0:50 #"Total Peace" – 3:02 #"Violet Execution" – 3:57 (Eric Gaffney) #"Scars, Four Eyes" – 3:27 (Gaffney/Barlow) #"Truly Great Thing" – 2:13 #"Kath" – 1:52 #"Perverted World" – 1:54 #" Wonderful, Wonderful" (

Edwards Edwards may refer to: People * Edwards (surname) * Edwards family, a prominent family from Chile * Edwards Barham (1937-2014), a former member of the Louisiana State Senate * Edwards Pierrepont (1817–1892), an American attorney, jurist, and ora ...

, Raleigh) – 3:13 #"Limb by Limb" – 2:17 (Gaffney) #"Smoke a Bowl" – 3:02 (Loewenstein) #"Black-Haired Gurl" – 2:12 (Loewenstein) #"Hoppin' Up and Down" – 3:16 (Loewenstein) #"Supernatural Force" – 2:43 (Gaffney) #"Rockstar" – 2:42 #"Downmind" – 1:31 #"Renaissance Man" – 2:19 #"God Told Me" – 1:09 #"Holy Picture" – 2:53 (Gaffney) #"Hassle" – 3:30 #"No Different" – 2:20 #"Spoiled" – 3:03 #"As the World Dies, the Eyes of God Grow Bigger" – 6:49 (Gaffney)

Extra disc - "Gimme Indie Rock EP" (2006 reissue)

All songs written by Eric Gaffney unless otherwise stated. #"

" (Barlow/Gaffney/Loewenstein) #"Ride the Darker Wave" (Barlow) #"Red Riding Good" (Barlow) #"New King" (Loewenstein) #"Calling Yog Soggoth" #"Stored Up Wonder (Supernatural Force)" #"Melting Wall (Holy Picture)" #"Design" #"Attention" #"Stars for Eyes" (Gaffney/Barlow) #"Unseen Waste" #"Violet Execution (Remix '04)" #"As the World Turns" #"Cranberry Bog" (Loewenstein/Gaffney) #"The Devil's Reggae" #"The Freed Pig (4-track)" (Barlow) #"Never Jealous" (Barlow) #"Showtape '91" (Barlow)

Personnel

– vocals, guitar, bass, percussion *

– vocals, guitar, drums *

– vocals, drums, guitar, bass Additional personnel *

Sean Slade Sean Slade (born 14 November 1957) is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer. On many of his productions he worked in partnership with Paul Q. Kolderie. Career Slade was born in Lansing, Michigan, United States. He graduated from Y ...

–

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

References

{{Authority control 1991 albums Homestead Records albums Domino Recording Company albums Domino Recording Company compilation albums Sebadoh albums Albums produced by Sean Slade