Lou Barlow, the indie legend who plays bass for Dinosaur Jr. and who leads Sebadoh, started the Folk Implosion with his penpal John Davis in 1993. They released a handful of great records and scored an out-of-nowhere hit with 1995’s “Natural One,” their contribution to the Kids soundtrack, before Davis left the group in 2000. Barlow released one more album under the Folk Implosion name without Davis, but then he hung it up. In 2021, Barlow and Davis got back together to work on new music. They released their Feel It If You Feel It EP in 2022, and they followed it this year with their new album Walk Thru Me. Last night, they played their first show back together.

The Folk Implosion’s grand live return happened at the Kingston, New York venue Tubby’s, and our own Scott Lapatine was there. Dazy opened, and the Folk Implosion played most of Walk Thru Me and a handful of old favorites, including some of their songs from the Kids soundtrack. Here’s Scott’s facts-only description of the evening:

Davis said he and Barlow last played together in public for a Paris radio appearance in 1998. For most of the show it was Barlow on bass and Davis on guitar/iPad/MPC, though Barlow was on drums at the beginning and Davis at the end. They alternated on vocals. Davis lives in Durham, NC and Barlow in Greenfield, MA these days.

Below, watch Scott’s videos of Folk Implosion playing “Natural One,” the recent single “Moonlit Kind,” and the 1999 track “Free To Go.”

Walk Thru Me is out now on Joyful Noise. The Folk Implosion play Tubby’s again tonight.