SATURDAY

Lou Barlow has always been a downer, but even his most morose lyrics aren’t as depressing as the sticker on the cover of his newest release, Emoh. It reads, “New solo album from Lou Barlow of Sebadoh & the Folk Implosion.” Christ! It’s like they’re shilling a Lou Gramm solo record—“Foreigner in a Strange Land” or “Still Hot Blooded and As Cold As Ice.” To Barlow’s lachrymose legions of followers, the man needs no introduction. He ruled the Prozac Nation that was early-’90s alternative music and was a major inspiration for the synchronized-weeping team at the Indie Rock Olympics. “Forget the good times,” the lonelyhearts said. “We’ve been dancing with Mr. Frownstone.” Unfortunately, melancholics age about as well as reality-television stars. Whereas Barlow used to be poetically gloomy, now he’s just sad. America likes its troubled troubadours to be young, cute, and unblemished—not old and desperate. (The clock is ticking, Mr. Oberst!) And martyrs always seem to be remembered more than the rest of us who show up each day to trudge through this dismal charade. Maybe Nick Drake had the right idea: Go out while you’re still on top of feeling low. Then we won’t need a dumb promotional sticker to prod our memories of one of the best breakup-theme-song writers of the last decade. Barlow plays with Karl Straub at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at Iota Club & Cafe, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. $10. (703) 522-8340. (David Dunlap Jr.)