DINOSAUR JR.

"Ear Bleeding Country:
The Best of Dinosaur Jr."

(Warner Archives/Rhino)

There weren’t many better when the Dinosaur roared. The revolving-door unit’s first hit, 1988’s "Freak Scene," predated Superchunk’s "Slack –" by two years, but both set the mood for post-punk, pre-grunge athemic greatness. "Ear Bleeding Country" culls a sampling of Dino through the group’s epochs – players such as future Sebadoh and Folk Implosion leader Lou Barlow may have doddered off, but Dinosaur Jr.’s majordomo J. Mascis kept the prehistoric riffs as thick as tar pits. With only 19 tracks covering the early days on the indie Homestead label to 1997’s fine swan song album, "Hand It Over" (Reprise), this collection ends with a J. Mascis + The Fog selection from last year. It’s a taste of the next generation that sounds like nothing’s changed. -Kevin Amorim