The Folk Implosion is an American band founded in the early 1990s by

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 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 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 ...

. The name is a play on the

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was an American three-piece rock band from New York City, formed in 1991. The group consisted of Judah Bauer on guitar, backing vocals, harmonica and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spenc ...

. The band was on hiatus from 2004-2020.

History

Following the release of Sebadoh's ''Bubble and Scrape'' in 1993, Barlow received a tape from Davis, songwriter and librarian, that kicked off their collaboration as a songwriting team and studio recording project. The Folk Implosion released '' Walk Through This World with the Folk Implosion'' on cassette in 1993 on the Communion Label and as a 7" EP in 1994 on Drunken Fish. The band's status was relatively obscure before

Larry Clark Lawrence Donald Clark (born January 19, 1943) is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film ''Kids'' (1995) and his photography book ''Tulsa'' (1971). His work focuses prim ...

's film ''

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 ...

'', and its soundtrack, most of which contained original compositions by Barlow and Davis. Both Sebadoh and Folk Implosion contributed to the soundtrack, with the track "Daddy Never Understood" attributed to Deluxx Folk Implosion. Deluxx Folk Implosion included Barlow, Davis, and members of the band Deluxx, Bob Fay and Mark Peretta. The introduction of Fay and Peretta to the band allowed the Folk Implosion to realize its songs live. "

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 ...

", one of the Folk Implosion songs from the ''Kids'' soundtrack, became a hit single. It peaked at no. 29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, no. 4 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts and no. 20 on the Mainstream Rock Charts. The track peaked at no. 45 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The video for "Natural One" was included in MTV's

Buzz Bin MTV's Buzz Bin was a select group of music videos by up and coming artists and bands that the network deemed "buzz worthy", " cutting edge", or "the next big thing". As such, the selected videos received heavy rotation on the channel, and were al ...

. In 1995, the band contributed the song "Indierockinstrumental" to '' Red Hot + Bothered'', a benefit album for people with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, produced by the

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

. In 1996, the band covered the song " I'm Just a Bill" from ''

Schoolhouse Rock! ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The theme ...

'' for the tribute album ''

Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks ''Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks'' is a tribute album based on the American animated TV series, ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' It was released by Atlantic/Lava Records in 1996 and contains 15 tracks, the original "Schoolhouse Rocky" theme and covers of 14 songs f ...

'' as "Deluxx Folk Implosion". Though the band attempted to duplicate the success of "Natural One", their subsequent releases were not as successful. ''

Dare to Be Surprised ''Dare to Be Surprised'' is the second studio album by the Folk Implosion. It was released on Communion in 1997. Production The liner notes state that the album was "recorded at Bliss onto videotape, 8-16 tracks," and that "no Analog recording, a ...

'' was released by Communion in 1997 and received 6/10 when reviewed in SPIN Magazine. The group had started work on the album in 1995 before "Natural One" was released. After the success of the Kids Soundtrack, Folk Implosion signed to

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

and recorded the 1999 studio album '' One Part Lullaby.'' While it was well reviewed, Barlow and Davis chose not to tour for the album and the project in its original incarnation slowed to an end. After Davis left the band in 2000, Barlow recruited

Russ Pollard Russell "Russ" Pollard (born 1975)Park, Linda (2010)The LP Questionnaire/Pick Three - Russ Pollard of Everest", sxsw.com, March 14, 2010, retrieved 2011-11-20 is an American rock musician, who has been a member of Sebadoh, The Folk Implosion, Alas ...

and

Imaad Wasif Imaad Wasif is an Indian singer, guitarist and songwriter whose music combines elements of psychedelic folk and rock. Wasif’s music has been described as "unbelievably intense with sparkling, raga-influenced guitar and a mystic bent." In 2006, ...

from the band

Alaska! Alaska! is an indie rock trio from the United States. The band was formed in San Francisco by Russell Pollard (formerly of Sebadoh and later of the Folk Implosion), Imaad Wasif (also later of Folk Implosion), with Lesley Ishino (formerly of the ...

to record ''

The New Folk Implosion ''The New Folk Implosion'' is the fourth studio album by the Folk Implosion. It was released on iMusic in 2003. In Europe, it was released on Domino Recording Company. The album was the group's first release without co-founder John Davis. Critica ...

''. In 2002, the band appeared as the backing musicians for the main character played by

Alessandro Nivola Alessandro Antine Nivola (born June 28, 1972) is an American actor. He has been nominated for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award and has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award ...

in the film ''

Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neighb ...

''. John Davis returned to teaching and began to release music again as a solo artist in 2013. As of 2021 they have begun recording new material, and played a small acoustic set live. They also released an expanded edition of the Walk Through This World EP on Bandcamp on September 11, 2021.

Discography

Albums

* '' Take a Look Inside'' (Communion Label, 1994) * ''

'' (Communion Label, 1997) * '' One Part Lullaby'' (

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

, 1999) * ''

'' (

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...

, 2003)

Singles and EPs

* '' Walk Through This World with the Folk Implosion'' cassette (Chocolate Monk, 1993) * '' Walk Through This World with the Folk Implosion'' 7" EP (Drunken Fish, 1994) * "Electric Idiot" (Ubik, 1995) * "

" (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, 1995) 29 US, #45 UK* "Palm of My Hand" (Communion Label, 1996) * '' The Folk Implosion (EP)'' (Communion Label, 1996) * "Pole Position" (Communion Label, 1997) * "Insinuation" (Communion Label, 1997) * "Free to Go" (Domino, 2000) 12 US Modern Rock* "Leaving it Up to Me" (Domino, 2002) * "Brand of Skin" (Domino, 2003) * "Pearl" (Domino, 2003)* * "Feel It If You Feel It" (2022)

Other appearances

* "Kingdom Of Lies," a song on the A Life Less Ordinary Soundtrack (1997)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Folk Implosion, The Indie rock musical groups from Massachusetts Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups from Boston Domino Recording Company artists Interscope Records artists