Dinosaur Jr. Will Deliver Plentiful Shredding on Late Summer LP
Outside the Mascis family home in Amherst, Massachusetts, Lou Barlow rests his head on his steering wheel, focused on a song that's forcing his small grey pick-up to shiver and shudder. He's currently hearing the latest mix of "Rude," a growler he's added to the family of 13 that he and his Dinosaur Jr. bandmates are hearing back in full for the first time since tracking for their forthcoming full-length began in early February. And as Barlow comes plodding into the kitchen through a side door moments later, he proffers some simple feedback for producer John Agnello: "More grinding" on the guitar sound. "So you'd like more attitude on the guitar then?" Agnello asks. "Nah," Barlow says. "Just more grinding. Alongside the bass."
The indie rock lifers' third still-untitled full-length since reuniting for 2006's (due tentatively via Jagjaguwar in late August) is, according to Agnello, coming together at pace. "These are three-month records, on and off," he says, of the band's post-reunion output. "And this song," he says, while cranking the volume for Barlow and drummer Murph in the skylit studio upstairs, "is so goddamned catchy you should have seen me and my 6-year-old doing a little dance to it at home."
Spiked with a layer of keys, it's a fleet-footed cousin to the vocal-less, locomotive cut guitarist J Mascis — SPIN's 5th best guitarist of all time — is listening to on repeat at a stereo downstairs, his eyes cast forward. Its "working title," Mascis purrs, is "Downtown" and it's as muscular as one might expect. For the past week, Mascis has been fighting the flu while working on guitar overdubs in isolation, pasting leads and solos to what sounds to be another remarkable addition to a catalogue that only seems to grow stronger. Today marks the first time they're all listening back together. "Shredding," Agnello bleeps, as he cues up an updated mix of "Rude" for Barlow and Murph, replete with more grinding on said solos. "Shredding. This is a shred affront."
Last edited by zeb on Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 11:00 pm Posts: 13226 Location: Adelaide, AUS
Harmless wrote:
I've never heard Dinosaur Jr. Where shall I start?
Maaan.
I actually wouldn't think 2007's Beyond would be a bad place to start, the first of their albums after their mid-2000s reunion. Other than that, You're Living All Over Me from 1987 and Bug from 1988 are the stone-cold Dino Jr classics that every home should not be without.
I've never heard Dinosaur Jr. Where shall I start?
Maaan.
I actually wouldn't think 2007's Beyond would be a bad place to start, the first of their albums after their mid-2000s reunion. Other than that, You're Living All Over Me from 1987 and Bug from 1988 are the stone-cold Dino Jr classics that every home should not be without.
I've never heard Dinosaur Jr. Where shall I start?
Maaan.
I actually wouldn't think 2007's Beyond would be a bad place to start, the first of their albums after their mid-2000s reunion. Other than that, You're Living All Over Me from 1987 and Bug from 1988 are the stone-cold Dino Jr classics that every home should not be without.
Right on.
He's right about ou're Living All Over Me and Bug. They're classics. The only reason I hesitate to start there, is the production. It's atrocious and has turned people off that I thought would like them. Green Mind suffers a bit here, too. Not as bad though.
Where You Been thru Farm are kinda similar in overall aesthetic, to me. None of these are a bad place to start. Also, Hand It Over is underrated.
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 11:00 pm Posts: 13226 Location: Adelaide, AUS
I think most of their stuff after Bug is pretty dull (yes, including Where You Been). That first reunion record (Beyond) was really strong but I couldn't get into the most recent one.
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 11:14 pm Posts: 802 Location: Australia Gender: Male
I reckon you can't go past the Ear-Bleedin' Country compilation to start off with. It covers the original line up, the major label stuff and even J with the Fog. I've been listening to Farm and Beyond quite a bit more than the early records over the last couple of years. They're both excellent.
01 Don't Pretend You Didn't Know 02 Watch the Corners 03 Almost Fare 04 Stick a Toe In 05 Rude 06 I Know It Oh So Well 07 Pierce the Morning Rain 08 What Was That 09 Recognition 10 See It on Your Side
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:29 am Posts: 2014 Location: Atlanta, GA
dumbcharger wrote:
I reckon you can't go past the Ear-Bleedin' Country compilation to start off with. It covers the original line up, the major label stuff and even J with the Fog. I've been listening to Farm and Beyond quite a bit more than the early records over the last couple of years. They're both excellent.
To my ears J's solo album Free so Free is REALLY good an worth checkign out if you havent
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