Back in the late 90s, when the internet was still in its infancy, getting to know about music was challenging enough, while getting hold of certain albums could prove to be even harder. As a case in point, to get a copy of One Part Lullaby, The Folk Implosion’s wonderful third album, involved my local record store having to import the thing. When it finally arrived some weeks later, I walked down the road on a cold, rainy night, because I simply couldn’t wait any longer. Nor was I disappointed, for the album became a firm favourite that still gets aired regularly some 25 years later.
Which is lucky, because it’s taken 25 years to get to see the band in the flesh. With the duo of Jon Davis and Lou Barlow deciding not to tour One Part Lullaby, the band quietly faded away, with Jon leaving in 2000. Lou did recruit a band (under the guise of The New Folk Implosion) for a single album released in 2003 but, to all intents and purposes, it seemed like that was it for this unique project.
Until now. With the duo reuniting in 2021, a new album emerged this year – the excellent Walk Thru Me – and suddenly they’re touring! It’s only been a quarter of a century, but the wait has been worth it and, on a warm, damp night in November, we find ourselves in Nottingham’s Rock City Beta for something rather special.
A surprisingly intimate venue, Rock City Beta offers a small stage, bar, and even a seating area. With decent viewing angles for the stage, and soundproofing that manages to subdue even the sound of Pitchshifter raising hell upstairs, it’s a perfect, intimate spot for The Folk Implosion’s return.
Closer in spirit to the lo-fi charms of Take A Look Inside and Dare To Be Surprised, The Folk Implosion live is a gloriously ramshackle affair. Much like Lou’s band, Sebadoh, the pair swap instruments at will, bounding around the stage and occasionally forgetting altogether what they should be doing. The mantra of the night, not unsurprisingly as it’s emblazoned across the bar in 4-ft high neon, is “fuck it” – at least when Lou’s not singing Not In Nottingham from Disney’s Robin Hood.
And it’s perfect.
Where the onus seems increasingly to be on bands utilising every available form of technology to reproduce their albums down to the last note, Folk Implosion remind us that great songs are more important than spuriously perfect sound, and the punk rock spirit that underpins the night is wonderfully refreshing.
The set list, especially for longtime fans, is pretty much everything you could want. Nestled between tracks from Walk Thru Me (including the title track, Bubblehead Doll, My Little Lamb, The Day You Died, Moonlight Kind, and Crepuscular), we get the highlights from the band’s career. The muscular opener from Dare To Be Surprised – Pole Position – finds Lou fighting the drum kit, as he changes through the gears; Burning Paper (from the same album) still packs an emotional punch, while the duo open the set, somewhat unexpectedly, with a pair of cuts from Take A Look Inside – Better Then Allrite and Slap Me. Throughout it all, the audience cheers with a force that seems to catch Lou off guard perhaps not realising just how long Folk Implosion fans have been waiting for this evening.
Despite not having as long to live in my consciousness, the new songs fit right in. The absolute highlight from Walk Thru Me is The Day You Died, Jon sounding more like Bob Dylan than ever as he relates the story of his father’s death. It’s an affecting moment, as is Jon’s disarming honesty in introducing the song, and yet the light touch music helps to soften the blow, somehow finding the same sense of dignity that lies at the lyric’s core. Delivered with grace by Jon and Lou, it’s a moving tribute that adds depth to the night’s proceedings.
For me, however, hearing tracks from One Part Lullaby is nothing short of joyous. Early in the set, we’re treated to E.Z.L.A. – here stripped down to the essentials but carried by an addictive melody that soars above the crunchy guitar. Better still, they pair Insinuation (from Dare To Be Surprised) with My Ritual, showing where the foundations for the darker sounds of One Part Lullaby were originally laid. Even Free To Go makes it in as a surprise encore, played simply on guitar and bass, with no electronic percussion to back it up, although it’s somewhat overshadowed by a frenetic Daddy Never Understood (from Kids), which sounds bruising even in the absence of drums – Lou smashing the bass to keep time as he snarls the lyrics. Somewhere amidst all that, there’s Natural One (also from Kids), the band’s biggest hit, and likely the point that many in the audience first discovered the band – certainly it draws a huge cheer.
A wonderfully life-affirming set, for just over an hour, I found myself standing in Rock City Beta, a huge smile plastered across my face, as Lou and Jon rattled and rolled through a set comprising old favourites and future classics. It’s a wonderfully human show, with all the workings on show and the band not afraid to fuck around a little, clearly enjoying being back on stage and in one another’s company. We’ve been to a lot of shows this year, but this was one of the highlights, and we can only hope they don’t leave it another 25 years to return!
