Lou Barlow formed The Folk Implosion with John Davis in the 1990s as a way to explore different kinds of music that his other band Sebadoh did not normally play. "The Lou Barlow Folk Implosion," as it is sometimes called, took its name as a tribute to the band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Another incarnation of this band went under the name Deluxx Folk Implosion, which featured Bob Fay, who worked with Lou Barlow in Sebadoh, on drums.