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Artist: Dinosaur Jr
Album: Bug
Original Release: 1988 on SST Records
Musicians:
J Mascis - guitar, vocals
Lou Barlow - bass
Murph - drums
Tracklisting:
1. Freak Scene
2. No Bones
3. They Always Come
4. Yeah We Know
5. Let it Ride
6. Pond Song
7. Budge
8. The Post
9. Don't
10. Keep the Glove
Review:
Where has this band been all my life? "You know that feeling right" You've been ignoring a band for such a long time. You keep hearing things about them, but for whatever reason just don't get around to listening to them. Then when you do, it's so mind-blowingly amazing and exactly everything that you like about music that you wish you had gotten in on the ground floor. That's how I felt about Dinosaur Jr the first time I heard this album. Regrettably, that was only about 4 months ago.
I came across Dinosaur Jr in my journey to fill the holes of my musical knowledge (I am one of those obsessive music people, with a bias towards underground and indie). I never liked the eighties at all, so I was in the course of listening to all the underground acts that I had missed by dismissing the whole decade for so long. Along the way I discovered the Minutemen, Husker Du, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo & the Bunnymen and many more that I had heard mentioned a lot but had basically ignored (more because of the fact that I always have such a long list of bands to listen to that I never got to it). I kept seeing Dinosaur Jr's name pop up, but it was still last on the list. What a shock when I finally heard "Freak Scene" by them! It was one of those moments where, before you even are done listening to the song the first time, you know it has entered into your personal pantheon of all-time great songs. Naturally, I went out and bought "Bug" which only cemented my love of Dino Jr and I have since become very familiar with their whole catalogue.
"Bug", currently the last album by the original trio, opens with a one-two sucker punch of "Freak Scene" and "No Bones". "Freak Scene" opens as lazy garage rock at it's finest, with J delivering the first verse in typical laid back fashion:
"Seen enough to eye you,
But I seen too much to try you.
It's always weirdness while you
Dig it much too much to fry you.
The weirdness flows between us,
Anyone could tell to see us.
Freak scene just can't believe us,
Can't it just be cool and free us."
The last line is delivered and almost drowned out by the immediate thrashing on low E. The bashing seems to be the musical representation of breaking free, although it doesn't seem to work because the first verse is repeated as some acoustic strumming manages to peak it's head forward. Maybe J decided to stop trying to break free and accept his place? No, as he says it's "so f**ked I can't believe it "what a mess it's best to leave it." The following guitar solo is perfect, but it's when everything suddenly drops out and J delivers the classic last lines that "Freak Scene" crosses the threshold of greatness:
"Sometimes I don't thrill you,
Sometimes I think I'll kill you.
Just don't let me f**k up will you,
Cause when I need a friend it's still you."
Clearly this is a song about a particularly stormy relationship, but there's just something in the details of it that make it more. Maybe it's just the fact that this is the first song I ever heard by them, the one that started it all for me. Maybe the way that even after that last verse you still can just barely make out Mascis sigh "what a mess" as he fires his way through the final solo.
"No Bones" pretty much continues in this same fashion. The little descending guitar riff/fill that permeates throughout the song gives it a unique identity on the album as it slowly winds its way to the climactic end. The solo at the end gives out to what sounds like layers of feedback that can best be described as sounding how lightning actually looks. Keep listening for the acoustic guitar strumming that doesn't quite break through the noise completely, but the feedback somehow compliments it while J slowly sings the last verse.
"Yeah We Know" is set apart by the bludgeoning wah-wah riff that refuses to let up at any point, as well as yet another great solo. "Let It Ride" is, musically, a bit of a lighthearted point of the album and on this album that's quite welcome. "Pond Song" continues this kind of faux-happy sound. The guitar is somewhat restrained, with a great riff and quiet, high pitched feedback that beautifully harmonizes with J. throughout the song, which is one of the album highlights. "Budge" follows with some straight ahead grunge rock comparable to Pearl Jam with a touch of Pavement (and it's worth noting that Pavement weren't formed until a year later).
As a rabid Neil Young fan, it's really no surprise that Dinosaur Jr has quickly become such a favorite. J Mascis somehow manages to channel not only Neil's voice, but his lead guitar and songwriting style as well. The big, dumb riffs of "Yeah We Know" are pure "Rust Never Sleeps", while things like "Pond Song" and "Keep the Glove" have melodies that recall the poppier songs from "Zuma" or "Everybody Knows". Of course, all this is not to say that Dino Jr sounds anything like a Crazy Horse cover band. Certainly they are informed by the hardcore scene they came out of, as witnessed in the thrashy parts of "Freak Scene" and obviously in "Don't". The rhythm section of Murph and Barlow are also clearly more musical than Crazy Horse at their best.
After "Bug", bassist Lou Barlow left, feeling smothered by Mascis, to form his own band, Sebadoh, which would become a great indie band in it's own right. Dinosaur Jr's first three albums would become huge influences on Pavement, Pearl Jam, Weezer, and of course Nirvana which, looking back, ironically would become a dinosaur of a different sort. J. continued making albums under the bands name until 1997, never quite reaching the same heights but coming awfully close on "Where You Been?" and "Green Mind". The new album, "Beyond", proves that they are as great as ever, if not better. Long live Dinosaur Jr.
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