Folk Implosion

Emerging as an unexpected extension from a casual collaboration, the Folk Implosion brought together Sebadoh's Lou Barlow and Boston-area songwriter John Davis. Although their initial recordings aligned closely with the lo-fi ethos prevalent in the early '90s, the pair supplied the soundtrack for Harmony Korine's 1995 film Kids with the atypical, sinuous track "Natural One," which rose to an unanticipated Top 40 position. Atmospheric grooves incorporating electronic textures reminiscent of that breakthrough single shaped the 1997 album Dare to Be Surprised, after which a rawer indie-rock dimension returned for the Interscope-issued One Part Lullaby in 1999. Once the founding members parted, the project entered an extended pause until Barlow and Davis reconvened in 2021; they subsequently oversaw expanded reissues of prior work and unveiled fresh recordings, among them the 2024 full-length Walk Thru Me—their first studio album in more than two decades.

Following his departure from Dinosaur Jr. in 1989, Barlow resumed activity with Sebadoh, the informal group of lo-fi enthusiasts he had assembled several years before, and began issuing material at a rapid pace on the independent Homestead label. Those intimate recordings reached Massachusetts singer/songwriter John Davis, who forwarded Barlow a cassette of his own domestic sessions. Correspondence ensued, leading the pair to form the Folk Implosion—a name that wryly referenced the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion—and to capture a self-titled cassette-only album inside Davis' residence in 1993. The British Chocolate Monk imprint first released that recording, while Drunken Fish presented portions of the same material on the U.S. 7" EP Walk Thru This World with the Folk Implosion the next year. The duo then moved to the Communion label, completing the 1994 mini-album Take a Look Inside the Folk Implosion and the more exploratory, import-only Electric Idiot EP in 1995.

That same year Barlow and Davis were enlisted to compose music for the film Kids. Over half the tracks on the resulting soundtrack originated with the Folk Implosion, including one contribution credited to the Deluxx Folk Implosion, an alternate configuration in which Barlow and Davis were occasionally joined by Deluxx members Bob Fay (also of Sebadoh) and Mark Perretta. The movie's unfiltered depiction of New York teenage street life generated substantial debate, a circumstance that may have aided the single "Natural One" at alternative radio. Regardless of the precise catalyst, the song's sinuous bass line and funk-inflected drum-machine pulse distinguished it sharply from any prior work by either artist and propelled it to number 29 on the pop charts in early 1996, freeing Davis from his librarian position. Surprised by the track's reception, London Records, the soundtrack's distributor, sought to secure the Folk Implosion on an exclusive basis, yet the musicians preferred the stability of Communion and wished to test whether further success could be achieved independently. Their subsequent album, Dare to Be Surprised, was tracked gradually across twelve months—partly because of Barlow's Sebadoh obligations—and appeared in 1997. Comprising buoyant yet slightly skewed guitar-based songs with electronic foundations captured on eight-track, the release earned strong critical notices without producing another radio single. Revisiting their earlier stance, the Folk Implosion entered a major-label arrangement with Interscope, resulting in the polished One Part Lullaby in 1999.

Davis exited shortly after that album's release, prompting Barlow to recruit Sebadoh's latter-day drummer Russ Pollard and guitarist Imaad Wasif. This configuration issued The New Folk Implosion on Domino Records in 2003 and performed as a rock band in the film Laurel Canyon before entering hiatus.

Barlow and Davis revived the Folk Implosion in 2021 with a modest live appearance and began developing new songs. An expanded edition of Walk Thru This World followed that year, succeeded in 2022 by the Feel It If You Feel It EP containing original material. While preparing additional recordings, the band also revisited earlier output, issuing 2023's Music for KIDS, a compilation gathering every track the duo had created for the 1995 film, several of which had remained unreleased. In 2024 they delivered Walk Thru Me, their first studio full-length in over twenty years. Scott Solter, whose prior credits include St. Vincent and Spoon, assisted with production, and the album incorporated Davis' interest in traditional Middle Eastern instruments through the addition of oud and tombak.