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Lou Barlow (left) and Jason Loewenstein, two of Sebadoh's founding members, will return to the st

From his modesty to his laid-back attitude, Lou Barlow has refused to let the fact he is often referred to as the “prince of lo-fi rock” influence his personality.

Barlow and Jason Loewenstein, two original members of the group Sebadoh, will play a show at the Troubadour on Thursday on the West Coast leg of their reunion tour. One of the quintessential indie rock bands of the 1990s, Sebadoh was at the forefront of a musical movement attributed with the birth of rock subgenres such as lo-fi and emo.

The group formed in 1988 as a side project between Barlow and Eric Gaffney, who eventually added Loewenstein. The trio was less a true band than a collective of songwriters, and in late 1993 Gaffney was replaced by drummer Bob Fay, who was later replaced by Russell Pollard. Throughout Sebadoh’s recording run, which ended in 1999, Barlow and Loewenstein would remain the two constants in the band’s music.

Five years later, Barlow and Loewenstein have linked up in order to revisit their rich history and share the stage once more.

“We’re pretty relaxed at this point; we really have nothing to lose. We’re not promoting anything or out to prove ourselves. I’m just enjoying playing the same songs again and traveling around. It’s been a really simple setup, with a lot of old fans showing up,” Barlow said. “I’m just concerned with people coming to the shows and buying a few of my records. Our ambitions are modest.”

In recent years, indie rock has built on the traditions of bands like Sebadoh, Pavement and Guided by Voices to reach impressive levels of popular and critical success. Barlow, though, is not one to take credit for it.

“When I was in Dinosaur Jr., we were just following in the footsteps of bands like the Minutemen and Black Flag and the Meat Puppets and Mission of Burma,” he said, referring to his career before Sebadoh as a bassist with the influential late-’80s alternative rock band. “I just think of this as passing the torch.”

He went on to express his admiration for the present crop of indie rock bands.

“There’s a lot of really amazing stuff going on right now that I think is superior to what was going on in the ’90s,” he said.

In particular, Barlow sees similarities between Sebadoh and current crossover successes The Shins and Death Cab For Cutie.

“They seem to be finding a similar level of popularity that we once enjoyed; at one point, we were that indie band showing up on MTV,” he said.

Barlow himself scored a surprise Top 40 hit in 1995 with side project Folk Implosion’s “Natural One” for the sound track to the film “Kids.” He also has another solo record to be released in January, which he describes partly as a continuation of his work with Sebadoh and a further-evolved version of what he started with on four-tracks many years ago.

But whether it be his recording material, his live performances or his musical ambitions, Barlow’s level-headedness has become one of the calling cards of Sebadoh’s music.

“Our songs are simple and direct, and our approach is very humble,” Barlow said. “There’s a lot of ourselves in the music – we get to the point in a lot of ways. That’s the one thing I think we’ve managed to do, is just kind of get to the point. I’ve realized that’s kind of rare. There are a lot of wasted words and notes in music.”

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