Album Review: Walk Thru Me, The Folk Implosion

Indie pop/rock low-fi legends The Folk Implosion, Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh) and John Davis, return with their full first studio album in over twenty years, Walk Thru Me.

Sparse beats, melodic guitars, synths and Middle Eastern instruments take you on a folk new wave post punk-ish journey. In “Crepuscular”, Barlow proclaims “dreaming murder every night, that’s no way to live” with his distinctive voice showing a certain vulnerability, and in “The Fable and the Fact” Lou’s bass line drives the song, along with off-kilter guitars.

With Scott Solter (St Vincent, The Mountain Goats, Spoon) on producing duties, it’s a low fi melancholic 90’s sound that fans fell in love with. Some say Barlow is channeling Peter Gabriel or even David Byrne, which might be the case; I hear the Finn Brothers in Davis-led song “Water Torture” and similarities to John Cale in “The Day You Died”. Having said this, all is in the Folk Implosion style.

As an album, Walk Thru Me is way past due and worth celebrating simply because we are hearing the Implosion again. However, it’s slow-growing and takes a few listens to fully appreciate. The closing tracks “O.K. to Disconnect” and “Moonlit Kind”, along with title track “Walk thru me”, are the strongest tracks and hopefully point to the next collection of tracks being more like their brilliant 1997 album, “Dare to be Surprised” (always in my listening rotations) and “One Part Lullaby”, which any new Implosion fans must go back and listen to.

Walk Thru Me is out now through Joyful Noise Recordings and at all good record stores.