Bubble and Scrape

<i>Bubble and Scrape</i> does exactly as it says, boiling off Sebadoh’s lo-fi folk roots and wiping away the frothy hiss for a crisper sound. On the swoon-worthy jangle of “Soul and Fire” and the fuzz-blasted anthem “Homemade”, you hear Lou Barlow becoming ever more comfortable in his role as indie rock’s consummate oversharer. But the louder presentation only amplifies his bandmates’ penchant for mischief, whether it’s Jason Loewenstein’s sludge-punk salvo “Sister”, or the horrifying screams that destabilise Eric Gaffney’s sprightly “Elixir Is Zog”.