- This topic has 0 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 25 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
J Mascis was the prototype slacker, a man capable of such bouts of lethargy that at one gig he reputedly got a member of the audience to operate his effects pedal for him. Yet from the seminal second Dinosaur Jr album ‘You’re Living All Over Me’ to their last, 1997’s underrated ‘Hand It Over’, Mascis has earned the reputation as one of the key figures of the US underground. Working with that other slack guitar genius Kevin Shields, ‘More Light’ proves to be a return to peak form after a three year hiatus.
More than just a gifted guitarist Mascis has an ear for a tune that effortlessly combines the bluesy rock of the 70s with his punk roots. The doleful ‘Ground Me To You’ is typical of the album. A gentle song which ends in one of J’s trademark egoless guitar solos is overlaid with his lazy drawl of a vocal. What seems to propel the album is the conflict between J’s undoubted talent, and his propensity to fuck things up, as acknowledged on ‘Waistin’ and ‘Where’d You Go’. On the latter track J sums it up when he sings "It’s all part of the plan, I’m not saying I like it or understand".
He really shouldn’t be so hard on himself, at 35 he’s made an album more vital than men half his age. If this is underachieving, imagine what he could do if he put his mind to it.
NICK PETERS
"Finally, there can be no doubt that the one characteristic of ‘reality’ is that it lacks essence. That is not to say that is has no essence, but merely lacks it. (The reality I speak of here is the same one Hobbes described, but a little smaller.) Therefore the Cartesian dictum ‘I think, therefore I am’ might better be expressed ‘Hey, there goes Edna with a saxophone!’"– Woody Allen
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.