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Middle Age Riot

A heavier-sounding and more mature Dinosaur Jr returns from the tar pits

by Laura Matsue
Aug, 18 2005

Here’s how I remember it: I started looking past classical piano songbooks and TV show theme songs for audibly appealing music a few years short of when grunge (in all it’s apathetic glory) lost its momentum, giving way to a bunch of arrogant yet aesthetically appealing rockers with shag haircuts and lyrical acid trips. I remember hearing my older cigarette-smoking friend telling me how in love she was with Kurt Cobain while force-feeding me mix-tapes with songs delineating her world of self-loathing as told by singers mumbling about their personal decay of finesse (in relation to how adolescence really felt). This, in a nutshell, was how I was introduced to Dinosaur Jr.: in her dirty trailer outside her mother’s cabin. There was simple melodic structure to their songs, but teamed with the alternation of the apathetic drone of lead singer, J Mascis and his recurring guitar solo breaks, they were a noteworthy entry in my introduction to alternative rock. Over stolen cigarettes I’d get extra-curricular schooling on how Dinosaur Jr and the Pixies should be a focal point in my life from that point on.

Flash forward to 2005â€â€