Audiopile Review: It’s weird when a significant (or just plain famous) artist has their greatest impact with a side project. In the UK, Damon Albarn is a household name for being singer with Britpop titans Blur. But internationally, he’s had more influence and commercial success with whatever Gorillaz is supposed to be. Similarly, Lou Barlow is legendary as a member of Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, and yet the closest he’s ever come to a hit is Folk Implosion’s ‘Natural One’. To be fair, that song, a seamless meld of Grand Royal beats and bookish indie introspection, is a straight-up banger. And its surprising embrace of rhythm and technology led to a creative renaissance for Barlow, which spawned 1998’s underrated ‘The Sebadoh’ and, a year earlier, Folk Implosion’s ‘Dare to be Surprised’. Check ‘Insinuation’, a phenomenal mix of breakbeats, mellotron strings, and signature Barlow melodies. What really makes ‘Dare to Be Surprised’ a low-key classic in Lou’s discography, though, is its commitment to emotional and sonic rawness. This is a daring and surprising record that nevertheless delivers everything a Lou fan might be hankering after.

Newly remastered and pressed on White vinyl, the sophomore album from the collaboration of Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh) and John Davis was unexpectedly mannered, moody, dubby for a project whose name was a piss-take inversion of Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion. It seems a bit of a shame that Dare to Be Surprised was destined to live in the shadow of the KIDS soundtrack’s success, but the ’90s were a weird time, and it was sometimes hard to recognize things for what they were. After 25 years Davis and Barlow have reunited, released a new full length album, and are touring again, reminding us just how unique a band they always were and continue to be.