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DINOSAUR JR.
Bug
(Merge)
Rating: 8
US release date: 22 March 2005
UK release date: 21 March 2005
by Lance TeegardenThis probably isn’t the first time that the Grateful Dead have been indirectly linked in print to Dinosaur Jr., but shortly after the release of Bug, Robert Hunter, former non-performing lyricist of such Dead classics as "Truckin’" and "Touch of Grey", effectively stamped that "Jr." on "Dinosaur". Seems Hunter — along with former members of Country Joe and the Fish, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Jefferson Airplane — already had a band called Dinosaurs, and they wanted this trio from Western Massachusetts to change their moniker to avoid any confusion. Maybe they had heard "Freak Scene"?
It’s a knowing point, because even back in 1985, with a somewhat muddled self-titled debut on Homestead Records, J. Mascis, Lou Barlow and some guy named Murph were making a sonic blueprint. The next few years would see the band sign to Black Flag’s fledgling independent label, SST Records, and release two albums that paved the way for the forgettable alternative rock revolution known as grunge. They would implode in 1989.
Bug, originally released in 1988, and now available remastered and extended via Merge Records, remains a nine-track distillation of everything Dinosaur up to that point, and a precursor of the Dinosaur that would resurrect itself in the early ’90s. Like 1987’s You’re Living All Over Me, Mascis’ reliably laconic vocal style is offset by his remarkable gift for emotive guitar playing — not to mention the feral power of Lou’s bass and Murph’s drums as a rhythm section — but the record is buoyed by better production and tighter, more refined song craft. It’s essentially all the best parts from YLAOM comb-filtered and then recoiled for greater impact.
If "Freak Scene" is to be forever crowned the worthiest of college-rock anthems, then "No Bones" will remain a fantastic album track, meshing converging guitars with an underbelly of acoustic-rock strum, and towards the end, a firestorm of distortion with Mascis’ delicate, weary lead vocal laid over top. (Mascis might not say much, but his guitar speaks volumes.) "They Always Come" is almost as good, cut in half by a rousing guitar break, and the insistent "Yeah We Know" ("What’s to say / Just no clue we just know what to do / Hope it comes together") is a five-minute case of discontent, and like the rest of Bug, welds the tension of American hardcore and punk with a powerful melodic expression and only the better parts of classic rock. Or "Neil Young in a blender", as a stoner friend once said.
"Let It Ride" sounds too much like a leftover from YLAOM, but Bug picks up again with triumvirate of "Pond Song", "Budge", and "The Post". Listening now, you can hear "Pond Song" recast on future Dinosaur albums as the wistful ballad that just won’t play itself straight. "Budge" is just plain brilliant, with Murph punishing his sticks (the version on the BBC sessions compilation, In Session, is even more chaotic), and "The Post" is a slow, sludgy little beast with a nifty chorus. (Both "The Post" and bonus track "Keep the Glove" employ the same guitar soloing that Mascis would eventually splatter all over his best work, 1991’s Green Mind.)
Since the majority of those purchasing these reissues will be longtime Dinosaur fans eager to hear these recordings in newly remastered sound, it might be interesting to note that Mascis mastered all three albums directly from vinyl, and not from the analog masters. Whatever the source, the remastered version of Bug sounds excellent. It far surpasses the SST version, and is noticeably superior when compared to the two Bug tracks included on the Warners/Rhino best of from four years ago. The volume has been given the requisite boost, there is better track separation, and there is a warmth of sound that wasn’t present before, at least not on CD.
But where are all the bonus tracks? Another selling point to the reissue consumer, Merge has decided to forgo the "bells and whistles" and instead has tacked on one bonus track to each record along with some videos. The point seems to be to get these back on the shelves. That may be the case, but they could have made for a far more interesting buy. I like the videos, however: "Freak Scene" and an unreleased "No Bones" will evoke a little "120 Minutes" nostalgia if your age allows. Whatever your opinion on the extras, Bug remains essential American underground rock, and it sounds better than ever.
— 8 April 2005
DINOSAUR JR.
Dinosaur; You’re Living All Over Me; Bug
(Merge)
***1/2In my early adolescence, I seemed to possess a near clairvoyant comprehension of Dinosaur Jr.’s innate (and utter) awesomeness–even before I completely understood why. J Mascis’ masterfully executed persona was a big part of it, I suppose–that of the prototypical slacker, stoned on his own oppressive boredom, who could still effortlessly muster both dense, blistering musicianship and brilliant songwriting. But even in my affections for the major label dabblings, it wasn’t until I got a taste for Dinosaur’s SST offerings that the planets all finally aligned. In the genius double-stroke of You’re Living All Over Me and Bug, J Mascis became a guitar god to those of us who didn’t know we gave a fuck about guitarists. He became the slack-jawed popster whose lazy voice effectively deflated any suggestion of axe-wielding machismo. Mascis became, in a word: Awesome. Merge’s long-awaited reissues of Dinosaur’s original JayLouMurph discography have the good sense to present the facts simply–exactly the way it’s meant to be. ZAC PENNINGTON
this is more of a press release than a review, but it’s got a good line or two in it …
http://www.filter-mag.com/media/interior.298.html”>http://www.filter-mag.com/media/interior.298.htmlDinosaur Jr., Freak Scene MP3
Once upon a time there was a drummer named Murph, a bass player named Lou and an emerging guitar god that just went by J. They introduced the indie rock world to their special brand of "hippie punk" and made guitar solos (kinda) cool again. They were called Dinosaur; then later Dinosaur Jr. Now 20 years since they and later the Pixies put the Boston scene on the map, their first three records — 1985’s Dinosaur, 1987’s You’re Living All Over Me and 1988’s Bug – have been reissued by Merge Records and were released on March 22.
Click below to remember J’s raspy vocals and squealing guitar solos in what we’ll refer to as the "not fighting years" before Lou was launching his bass at Mascis’ head.
(oh yeah + there’s the mp3 of freakscene to download here as well
)another pleasing review of the reissues…
Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur/You’re Living All Over Me/Bug
Merge RecordsRATING: 6-9-8/10, Respectively
“It would be hard to find a band that was so unimpressed with itself. We didn’t have any sycophants, we didn’t have anybody keeping a scrapbook… we didn’t care.â€
DINOSAUR JR.- S/T- MERGE- I’m glad someone (thankfully Merge) had the good sense to reissue these 3 brilliant records from the band that I can say honestly changed my life. I was a hardcore kid and desperately wanting something to come along and force me to listen to something different and these 3 kids from western Massachusetts (two of whom had started out in the hardcore band Deep Wound while the other was in All White Jury) did it. The debut originally came out on Homestead Records (which was run by Matador’s Gerard Cosloy) in 1985 and starts off with J. Mascis mumbling over an acoustic guitar as he then starts howling “Bulbs of Passionâ€
Music review: Dinosaur Jr. – Dinosaur (Reissue)
By Greg Elias04/14/05 – Most rock and roll fans at least know who Dinosaur Jr. was.
Whether for the semi-hit "Feel the Pain" or their classic late 80s output, they were more than integral in reestablishing the possibilities of simply rocking out. J Mascis made the solo an art form again as well, stealing it from the hands of the bombastic fingertappers of the decade.
Dinosaur Jr. was best in its original form, with Mascis on guitar and singing, Lou Barlow on bass and vocals and the mysterious Murph drumming. They released two brilliant albums, You’re Living All Over Me and Bug, whose influence has been well-documented.
Now widely available thanks to Merge Records, these two records continue to stand as some of the most incredible guitar rock records of the 1980s.
Also available in the spate of reissues is Dinosaur’s first LP, their self-titled effort that is incredibly scattered musically, but not without its moments.
Dinosaur serves well as a historical piece for fans of the band, as it features far more vocal and writing input from Lou Barlow ("Does it Float," "Forget the Swan," "Cats in a Bowl," plus more vocal work) than seen on You’re Living All Over Me or Bug.
The band works its way through a number of styles, from riff-driven Black Sabbath passages to huge solos and screaming messes. Mascis and Barlow even share vocals on a number of tracks, something that comes as a surprise, given how quickly their relationship deteriorated.
Listeners will be hard-pressed to find another record that covers more of the rock map. "Gargoyle" and "Does it Float" mine the darker British rock of the late 80s, while "Mountain Man" shows the hardcore history of the band.
"Repulsion," "Severed Lips" and "The Leper" are the strongest songs on this album, each more akin to "Little Fury Things" and similar work than anything else.
"Does it Float," "Bulbs of Passion" and "The Leper" were all featured on Dinosaur Jr.’s BBC Sessions disc, each in superior form.
The separation between their debut and their later work occurs within the focus and the production. As soon as Dinosaur Jr. acknowledged their strengths, they exploded and moved rock. Here, you have the sound of a heavily-influenced band outgrowing the student role and almost breaking through.
Dinosaur is a classic college record, mixed heavy-handedly and played sloppily. It foreshadows greatness and contains some good tunes, which is all you can ask when a considering a great band’s debut.
Reissues (Mergebinoa) Dinosaur – 3 Stars
You’re Living All Over Me – 4.5 Stars
Bug – 4.5 starsSome records carry too much baggage, heaped on by tastemakers who deem them epochal. Such classification leads to years of indignant recommendation (“Waddaya mean you never heard that album? Are you kidding?!â€
Cool review, from yaledailynews.com
Although I disagree that they were pretty much forgotten in the 90’s & am getting real tired of how dismissive some writers are of the remainder of the Dinosaur Jr catalogue…
Stone Age rockers return beautifully
BY PETER FEIGENBAUM
A long way back, in the protean years of indie rock, circa 1985, there was a ragtag band from a sleepy Massachusetts locale. Dinosaur Jr. played a major role in shaping the sound of what would later become known as "alternative rock" during the 1990s, influencing small-time basement four-trackers and radio rock gods alike. Yet the band attained little more than a cult following, and was gradually forgotten over the course of the 1990s. Thankfully, Merge Records has re-released the band’s seminal "You’re Living All Over Me," their second album, and "Bug," their third, which have both long been out of print. Listening to the re-mastered "Living" and "Bug" — especially their beloved highlights like "Little Fury Things," "Yeah We Know" and "Freak Scene" — is a long-awaited joy.
As many a fan would say, Dinosaur Jr. broke new ground by becoming one of the first post-hardcore indie bands to integrate the sounds and solos of classic ’70s hard rock and psychedelia. It is one of the first bands to affirm that classic dinosaur rock sounds were worthy of use, all the while armed with a lovable slacker sensibility that paved the way for the likes of Nirvana and Pavement.
The band’s debut "Dinosaur," also re-released by Merge, was originally put out on the fledgling Homestead Records. (Homestead was run by their friend Gerard Cosloy, who would later found indie heavyweight Matador Records.) "Dinosaur" is bogged down by endless stylistic inconstancies, though the track "Repulsion" shows a strong grasp of melody, and the loud/soft, verse/chorus dynamic that would later become a paradigm.
But the band found its sound on "You’re Living All Over Me." When released in 1987, the band was clearly listening to label-mates on SST Records, the home of like-minded punk and psychedelic outfits like Sonic Youth and the Meat Puppets. The first track of "Living," "Little Fury Things," is maybe its best. The multifaceted opener effectively sums up the Dinosaur Jr. sound: The track begins with a noisy, wah-wah freak-out that segues into gentle, melodic verses.
On the track and throughout the album, vocalist/guitarist/songwriter/longhaired goofball J Mascis sings in his trademark wistful voice. It is to his credit that he sounds like Neil Young, who is clearly an influence on Mascis and the band. But Mascis also sounds perpetually laid back, a trait that later rubbed off on Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus. Dinosaur Jr.’s laconic, even-tempered and fragile-sounding vocals were a grand departure from the urgent growls that characterized most of its contemporaries.
Much of the band’s dense, layered guitar work also illustrates how it innovated its own swirling wall of sound. The heavy riffage of "SludgeFeast" suggests the band’s penchant for metal; high-octane solos are sprinkled liberally throughout the album, proving that Mascis was a veritable guitar god to boot (at least in the indie rock world).
There was another formidable creative force lurking behind the scenes of Dinosaur Jr.: bass player Lou Barlow. Barlow’s contributions to "Living" are surprisingly conspicuous, given his overall dissatisfaction with Mascis. (He would later leave to found the equally-impressive Sebadoh.) Barlow sings effectively on "Lose," though he’s clearly doing his best J Mascis impression. His "Poledo," however, is a jumbled, goth-y tape-loop experiment, crudely recorded in his basement. It sounds weird and out of place, but is interesting to hear in context of Barlow’s later work with his own band. Another highlight on the release of "Living" is a jangly cover of the Cure’s "Just Like Heaven," a bonus track that shines light on Dinosaur’s British goth-rock influences.
While "Bug" lacks some of the magic of "You’re Living All Over Me," it starts off with the brilliant "Freak Scene." The anthemic track, about Mascis’ and Barlow’s dysfunctional friendship, is perhaps the catchiest song the band ever wrote. Had the cosmos been aligned differently (and SST had better distribution), "Freak" could have been the generation-defining song that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would later become.
"Yeah We Know," with its wah-wah driven hooks and start-stop cadence, is also a highlight. The obtuse lyrics feel like an afterthought, but are especially interesting in retrospect: "About to crack / With no hope of coming back / How can you ever get it together?" "Don’t," the final song before the bonus track, is a menacing, chaotic noise jam. Barlow’s repetitive screams — "Why don’t you like me?" — are particularly poignant, since the perpetually tormented bassist quit the band after "Bug."
Afterwards, Dinosaur Jr. essentially became a J Mascis solo project. The slew of increasingly mediocre major label releases that followed never topped the brilliance of its second and third albums. As a result, even college students’ familiarity with the band is often limited to the uninspired but widely available "Hand It Over" and "Without A Sound" — if they’ve heard of the trio at all. The re-release of the ground-breaking "You’re Living All Over Me" and the manic "Bug" will set the record straight, and maybe even launch Dinosaur Jr. back into the pantheon of indie rock legends.
Aural Fixations
DINOSAUR JR.
Dinosaur
You’re Living All Over Me
Bug
(Merge)
Dinosaur Jr. was such a staple of the alternative rock landscape in the 90s that it’s hard to remember that what the Massachusetts trio was doing was absolutely groundbreaking. Melding appealing melody with appalling noise was hardly a new idea when Dinosaur emerged in the mid -80s from the wreckage of hardcore band Deep Wound—the band’s fellow New Englanders in Mission of Burma had already blazed a few trails. But the way guitarist/vocalist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph played with dynamics was more extreme than anything that had come before. The tunes may have been borrowed from sources as disparate as New Order and Neil Young, but the almost overpowering onslaught of hellacious distortion, feedback and scree the band applied to them was something else again. That the group could drop from a nail-chewing wall of sound to a plainspoken pop gallop without missing a step made it even more special. Dino Jr. also drew heavily from 70s classic rock and singer/songwriter sensibilities, both deeply unfashionable at the time of its ascent. While it would be simplistic to call Dinosaur Jr. the sole pioneer of any kind of postpunk loud/soft alternarock sound, listening to these reissues of the band’s first three albums makes it clear that Dinosaur Jr. helped write the check that the Pixies, Nirvana and their ilk cashed.Originally released in 1985 on Homestead Records, Dinosaur (self-titled before litigation forced the band to add "Jr.") pretty much lays out a blueprint the group would spend the rest of its career refining. Mascis writes tunes built on more that simply three chords and one tempo; his songs shift from midtempo folk rock to psychedelic volume-abuse on a dime. He’s not yet the guitar god he would be hailed as; his fingering sometimes betray his origins at the drum kit. But, buoyed by Barlow’s busy bass parts (always the band’s most underrated virtue), Murph’s solid timekeeping and his own musical instincts, he’s able to get gnarly rock/pop tunes like "Repulsion," "Gargoyle" and "Forget the Swan" across with appealing style. Who knows what he’s on about in a song like "Quest," but the actual meaning of words has never been of primary importance to Dino. The band’s formula could still use some tweaking—the multi-part "Pointless" pretty much lives up to its name, for example, and the live bonus track "Does It Float" shows a certain lack of live stability. But for the most part Dinosaur Jr. sprang forth fully formed, like Athena from the mind of Zeus. Fans/detractors of Mascis’ infamous laconic singing style will be taken aback by the strength he puts into the choogling punk/metal anthem "Mountain Man" (a duet with Barlow) and the appropriately-titled "Bulbs of Passion." [buy it]
There’s not a sign of sophomore slump on 1987’s You’re Living All Over Me, considering by some to be the trio’s finest album. Indeed, if anything Dinosaur Jr. has gotten better, more confident, more sure of what direction it was taking underground rock & roll. With sharper production (despite Mascis’ carping since) and tighter arrangements, the band almost drowns its ever-more melodic tunes in a grain-silo’s worth of distortion and amplifier torture. "Little Fury Things" opens the record with some horrific screaming; while it calms down considerably afterward, its dynamic shifts set the tone for the rest of the album. "Kracked" and "Sludgefeast" both boast winning melodies, but the band does its best to obscure them under thick basslines, crashing cymbals and guitars cranked way past eleven. No amount of six-string strychnine can obscure the immediate appeal of pop songs like "Raisans" [sic] and "The Lung," however, and the group almost eschews distortion completely on the folk-rocking "In a Jar." Meanwhile, Barlow’s home-recorded "Poledo" marks the debut of the low-fi, introspective experimentalism the bassist would perfect in his band Sebadoh. This edition of a landmark alternative rock record also includes Dinosaur Jr.’s gonzo cover of the Cure’s "Just Like Heaven" and a pair of videos. [buy it]
Bug, released in 1988 and the group’s last indie album before a jump to the majors, begins with "Freak Scene," an absolute gem of a tune that rolls all of Dinosaur’s best attributes into one memorable number. Introducing acoustic guitars to the mix while still reveling in gonzoid electric theatrics, making Mascis’ slacker vulnerability overt, the song is probably the band’s greatest and was unsurprisingly released as a single. The rest of the record is even more airtight than the first two albums; having banished any thoughts of democracy, Mascis had taken complete control, giving Barlow and Murph instructions on their parts. This may not have been good for band unity&both Barlow and Murph would quit following this record, though Murph would sporadically return—but it makes for a taut, polished rock sound, one that manages to emphasize both the melodies and the sheer sonic roar of songs like "Yeah We Know," "They Always Come" and "Let It Ride." The shimmering, almost gentle "Pond Song" is the latest in a long line of attempts to write a song like the Cure, though it sounds more like Dino than anyone else. Bug may be Dinosaur Jr.’s cleanest, catchiest collection of songs, with some of Mascis’ most impressive leads and strongest vocals, and as such is a perfect introduction for beginners. Which isn’t to say the band didn’t keep a hand in the old aural terrorism&mdash: "Don’t" consists of little more than an all-out assault on the volume knobs while Barlow screams "Why don’t you like me?" as if he’s punctuating every syllable with a hammer blow. Bug is as classic and influential an underground rock record as its celebrated predecessor. [buy it]
The band, with Mascis firmly at the helm, would go on to a contract with Warner Bros. and a handful of records that continued the sound found here. Great music would abound (particularly on 1994’s Where You Been), but nothing Dinosaur Jr. captured its own zeitgeist as well as its first three albums. Michael Toland
Dinosaur Jr.
You’re Living All Over Me
Merge Records
It seems to me as though You’re Living All Over Me is already firmly part of the indie rock canon, so whatever I say in this review probably doesn’t mean much. Despite any supposed flaws that I may point out, you still need this record. Not only was it one of the most historically important and influential albums of the 1980s, but it was also one of the best albums of the 1980s, and unless you’re waging some kind of war against that decade there’s no reason you shouldn’t own this disc. So, now that we’ve established that it’s time to turn to my thoughts on the record.Personally, I think that pretty much every single one of J Mascis’s best songs appear on You’re Living All Over Me (the exceptions that spring immediately to mind are “Freak Sceneâ€
Italian review, translated thru google so…
DINOSAUR JR: reunion and reprint of first rimasterizzati discs
Reprinted the first 3 album rimasterizzati. Date of escape: 22 March 2005
"Dinosaur" – "You’ king Living All Over Me" – "Bug" (CD – Sweet Nothing)They are passes vent’ years already to you from when the Dinosaur Jr made their explosive appeared on the scene American. J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph formed the band in 1984, in a sonnacchioso college of Amherst, Massachusetts, beginning a distance that would have capacities to change them the history of the rock. These first three album were the reference model of that then it would have become famous like alternatives rock in the ten years succeeded to you, forcing the scene Indian to move from the ideological swamp of the hardcore and of the post-punk in order to throw itself in one new it was of introspection, making music for this less powerful one and recovering the ties does not abandon to you with the rock of decades ‘ 60 and ‘ 70. Tantochè some define them like the perfect synthesis between the Sonic Youth and Neil Young. Originaramente publishes to you on two label fundamental like Homested and SST, "Dinosaur" "You’ king Living All Over Me" and "Bug", after years of difficult reperibilità , entire generation of young people is hour newly available for one fan, therefore like for those of long date.
All and the three cd are rimasterizzati. The extra material comprises rare live recordings therefore like some video between which clip unknown "Not the Bones". The cover it originates them has been placed side by side from new booklets that they contain unknown images and notes of writer Byron Coley who introduces interviews to Thurston Moore, Mike Watt and Robert Pollard.
Very long & detailed review of YLAOM, with lots & lots of personal anecdotes by the writer…
Me, the pills I found in your Mom’s ’86 Buick Skylark & Dinosaur Jr’s YLAOM
great pic…
[img]http://www.creemmagazine.com/BeatGoesOn/DinosaurJr/Reissues.jpg[/img]
Dinosaur Jr.
Dinosaur / You’re Living All Over Me / Bug
BugIn the annals of music history, Dinosaur Jr.’s legacy has been oversimplified into a few reductive buzzwords. Sure, you can try to blame them for grunge or slackers or Neil Young’s ’90s resurgence. But all of that obscures the fact that the original trio—guitarist/singer J Mascis, bassist/singer Lou Barlow and drummer Murph—was one of the most vital, inventive and singular groups of all time, helping expand the vocabulary of punk rock and inspiring countless other bands.
Now, we have a perfect opportunity to reevaluate the Dinosaur Jr. legacy. The first three Dinosaur Jr. albums—Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me and Bug—have long been out of print. But now Merge has released new remastered versions that sound far superior to the original Homestead and SST versions. And, despite a viciously bitter breakup in 1989, the original lineup has reunited and will be touring this summer.
Dinosaur (without the Jr.) was hatched in Amherst, Mass. in 1984 from the ashes of a hardcore punk band called Deep Wound. Like many contemporaries in other parts of the country, a sense of boredom with hardcore’s limitations led to a more experimental mindset.
The band’s self-titled 1985 debut is a compelling (if flawed) effort by a trio still finding its way. Dinosaur sounds closer to Hüsker Dü than the folk band of the apocalypse that it became. Barlow handles an equal share of the vocal duties (and after all these years, I’m still not sure who sings a couple of things).
Dinosaur does feature three songs—"Repulsion," "Quest" and "Severed Lips"—that remained staples of the Dinosaur live set long after the Barlow era ended (and even after the Murph era ended). Right off the bat, Dinosaur was chronicling how weird it was to be growing up in Reagan’s America. There’s a combination of vulnerability, paranoia, cynicism and humor here that would later become a parody of itself when the concept of "slackers" was discovered by Madison Avenue. But it was a pretty powerful combination here.
"Quest" features an early example of Mascis’ bent take on life, when he sings "I love the caterpillars munching on the leaves / Pitter patter makes me forget my disease / Bugs have feelers just like me / And I’m feelin’ oh so lonely." Feeling diseased is a theme Mascis returns to frequently—both "Severed Lips" and "The Leper" contain similar references.
The next album, 1987’s You’re Living All Over Me, is widely (and deservedly) regarded as a work of genius. By this time, the Dinosaur sound had gelled. Mascis’s fiery soloing and use of rockasaurus guitar effects as a wah-wah pedal and a phase shifter found its perfect counterpoint in Barlow’s full arm Marshall-stack bass strumming and Murph’s propulsive stomp.
From the first explosion of "Little Fury Things" and the crack precision of "Kracked," Dinosaur had clearly perfected its layered sonic assault that juxtaposed varities of feedback, distortion and clean tones in a manner that presaged My Bloody Valentine.
Lyrically, the songs continue to mine relationships—mainly the intense desire to have them, the difficulty in finding them, and the pain of losing them. In "Sludgefeast," Mascis sings "Got to connect with you girl before I forget how." In "Raisans," he drawls "She stood burning in front of me / She ripped my heart out and gave it to me / My eyes wouldn’t open, cemented to her face / Have I begun a feeble chase?"
But if You’re Living All Over Me is the band’s masterpiece, 1988’s Bug is the overlooked gem that gets wrongfully slighted. Recorded amidst rising tensions within the band, Bug is remarkable in that it is extremely loud and noisy, but pretty and delicate at the same time. One of the reasons Bug gets dismissed is that the band was in the midst of complete dysfunction. But that dramatic tension is palpable on the record—Barlow’s playing in particular has a ferocious attitude to it.
It is on Bug that Mascis truly began to perfect his concept of "ear-bleeding country." "No Bones" could have been a Gram Parsons song, while the Cowboy Junkies later stripped down "The Post." And "Pond Song" is flat-out one of the most gorgeous songs Mascis has ever written.
The album kicks off with "Freak Scene," a song that was way more of a slacker manifesto than Beck’s "Loser" ever was. Few rock ‘n’ roll songs have captured the terminal heebie jeebies that accompany many relationships better. And the feedback-drenched tag at the end: "Sometimes I don’t thrill you / Sometimes I think I’ll kill you / Just don’t let me fuck up will you / ’cause when I need a friend it’s still you."
The album ends with the five-and-a-half-minute freakout "Don’t," a song that is perhaps the greatest musical representation of a feeling of all time. Over an end-of-the-world wall of noise, Barlow screams "Why don’t you like me" as though his skin has been ripped off and he’s being lowered into a saltwater bath. Ah, but who among us can’t relate to that feeling? I can (and if I wanted to be mean, I could even assign a name to that feeling).
Sadly, that song also aptly captures the feeling within Dinosaur Jr. at the time. Barlow was dismissed soon after Bug and waged a very public and painful war against Mascis with his band Sebadoh. The hatred inspired songs like "The Freed Pig" and "Asshole," although a more apt Barlow composition was "Punching Myself In The Face Repeatedly, Publicly."
Mascis recorded a series of Dinosaur Jr. albums after dismissing Barlow. Sometimes he recorded with Murph and bassist Mike Johnson, while others times Mascis played all the instruments himself. He became a critical darling whose work was featured on Beverly Hills 90210. One particular magazine cover contained the headline "J Mascis is God."
Both Mascis and Barlow went on to record much vital music apart. But (and I’m sure they’ll both bristle at this notion) neither has made music anywhere near this original since. One doesn’t dare hope that this rekindled partnership will yield more fruit in the future, but then again, who dared hope we’d even get to see these three guys playing live together again.
—Brian J. Bowe
April 2005
Photo by Robert Matheu"Coma Girl" wrote:"She stood burning in front of me / She ripped my heart out and gave it to me / My eyes wouldn’t open, cemented to her face / Have I begun a feeble chase?"I’m pretty sure it’s, "My eyes PINNED opened, cemented to her face…" If he’s eyes "wouldn’t" open how could they be pinned to her face?
Anyway, great article, thanks for posting that.
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