Raised on Rock
Thoughts Regarding Dinosaur Jr’s DVD Release, Live in the Middle East
[05-14-2007]
by Chris Lindsey

First, consider this tale: long ago there was a rock band that didn’t want to sound like a rock band, but they loved distorted electric guitars. So they experimented and tested the limitations of their guitars and made new sounds, but still ended up sounding pretty much like rock ’n’ roll. So then their "children" — who were not so in love with the distorted electric guitar — realized you don’t need distortion to make dangerous and exciting music. And so these "children" were able to experiment further and further, exploring farther and farther into the deep sound pits and virtual rhythmicons where lie the echoes and mutations of the SOUL.

Okay, now think about this: It’s an over-simplification to see evolution in music and art as being directly related to choice of instrument. Truly, innovation comes from new feelings and ideas. Artists give birth to these new feelings and ideas using whatever means are available and necessary, and that’s how new music comes to be. Music is not about the instruments; it’s about the emotions the artist must vomit up, lest they destroy his or her insides. The instrument is a compass and a medium, of course, but in the end, it’s the feelings and ideas that incite the music; the music is the signifier, and the ideas and feelings are the signified.

Lou Barlow and/or J Mascis (to varying degrees at various times) had "the feeling,â€