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not a whole lot new, rehearsing, mention the DVD release, possibly by end of year, hope to release the new cd early next year…
Quote:Freak sceneThe original lineup of the legendary Dinosaur Jr. is back together after 15 years, and will play here Sunday
By Jon Ferguson
Aug 25, 2006
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA – Against all odds, Dinosaur Jr. is back, making a fearsome noise as it stomps around the country.
The reunion of the original three members is as unlikely a development as if the band’s namesake had made a comeback from extinction.
When Dinosaur Jr., based in Amherst, Mass., was in its final throes, its guitarist, J. Mascis, and bassist, Lou Barlow, went months without speaking to each other.
In 1989, Mascis told Barlow the band was breaking up. Mascis reformed it the next next day with a new bass player.
Drummer Murph (whose parents named him Emmett Murphy) said there were times when the three original band mates absolutely hated each other.
"Oh yeah, all three of us," Murph said during a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he and Barlow (Mascis was in Europe) were rehearsing for the current leg of the reunion tour, which makes a stop Sunday at the Chameleon Club in downtown Lancaster.
"There were times when it was really insanely so unbearable that people who would come around us would have to leave. They would sense it. I know it’s a cliche but you really could cut the tension with a knife."
The animosity, however, didn’t stop them from making great music. The band, which many critics believe was the bridge between punk and grunge in the late 1980s, made the guitar solo safe for indie rock.
The three albums the original trio recorded — "Dinosaur" (1985), "You’re Living All Over Me" (1987) and especially "Bug" (1988), which includes the single "Freak Scene" — all are classics of alternative rock.
And it’s those albums that brought the three musicians together again. When Mascis decided to reissue the three albums, his manager thought it would be nifty idea to have them reunite for a tour.
"I don’t think J had really thought about it, but then we got a pretty strong response from all kinds of people — family and fans," Murph said. "It was strong enough and the offers were good enough that we actually went to a reunion."
Murph said they knew within minutes they would be able to recreate the chemistry that made the band such a formidable live act back in its heyday.
"There was initially a little weirdness but it wasn’t that bad," Murph said. "It was an unknown. You’re not really sure if things are going to be tense or not tense.
"It actually was pretty mellow. It wasn’t a high-pressure thing at all. Within the first hour, literally playing songs that we hadn’t played together in 15 years, it started clicking."
Things, in fact, have clicked so well that the reunion, which began with a tour in 2005, shows no sign of abating.
Murph said there are plans for the band to release of concert DVD, perhaps by the end of the year, and the trio also plans to release a studio album of new songs.
He said the band already has recorded basic tracks and hopes to have it ready for release early next year.
"We just kind of take things as they come," Murph said. "We’ll keep going as long as it seems to work out. If our manager keeps throwing us gigs, I guess we’ll keep playing until we get sick of it."
Or of each other.
Quote:Music Living All Over Again
by Donny KutzbachShaggy, slacker and strident, Dinosaur Jr’s legacy is their nonchalant and unique summation of so many sources and strains of rock and roll…and the fact that they did it loud. No 1980s three-piece (sorry, Violent Femmes and the Police) changed rock the way the way Dinosaur did, readying the waters for Nirvana and the explosion of music from the underground that would soon surge upward.
J. Mascis and Lou Barlow bonded as the pair toiled at the heart of the straight-edge hardcore band Deep Wound in and around Amherst, Massachusetts in the early 1980s; Mascis sat at the drum stool while Barlow played guitar. Following the dissolution of Deep Wound, Mascis showed Barlow the songs he’d been working on. Mascis proved to be something of guitar savant, something he’d long hid, and his songs, fueled by rock classicism married to pop hooks, proved a complete 180-degree turn from the rigid dogma of the hardcore punk in which the pair had long invested. Barlow was in awe of Mascis’ songs, which were light years beyond Deep Wound’s simple, three-chord punk. The pair hooked up with Greenwich, Connecticut transplant and self-proclaimed “hippie punkâ€
Hasn’t J said recently that they’re sick of playing the same songs. This seems like a good time to try out some new stuff. One could only hope.
much more concise…
Quote:Dinosaur Jr., Toad’s Place, 9 p.m. WednesdayDinosaur Jr. was one of the more interesting acts of the alternative era. The group, particularly leader J. Mascis, came from serious hardcore roots but would go on to define itself through its songwriting, which revealed an affinity for Neil Young despite its often lobe-shattering volume. Mascis became a guitar hero in the early 1990s, an era when such a role was desperately needed. As time wore on, the band would become a platform for Mascis. It was surprising then, last year, to hear that Dinosaur Jr. was reforming with original members Lou Barlow and Murph. The reunion was greeted enthusiastically. $22 in advance/$25 day of show. Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven. 562-5589.
Carnivore, Toad’s Place, 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1
"tonas " wrote:Hasn’t J said recently that they’re sick of playing the same songs. This seems like a good time to try out some new stuff. One could only hope.Really hope that happens, would be VERY cool to hear a preview of the any new Dinosaur music!
"Another Girl Another Planet " wrote:"tonas " wrote:Hasn’t J said recently that they’re sick of playing the same songs. This seems like a good time to try out some new stuff. One could only hope.Really hope that happens, would be VERY cool to hear a preview of the any new Dinosaur music!
Lou said the same thing to me a couple weeks ago when I joked about it. I didn’t press him on the issue so who knows what might happen. He also said that J had scrapped some of the songs they had been working on in the studio and that he (Lou) might be getting a few of his own on the record after all. But again, who knows how it ultimately will work out.
New songs…..no new songs…..so long as they play "Tarpit" at one of the shows I’m seeing this week (or, hopefully, at both) I’ll be plenty happy.
"tom_in_chicago " wrote:"Another Girl Another Planet " wrote:"tonas " wrote:Hasn’t J said recently that they’re sick of playing the same songs. This seems like a good time to try out some new stuff. One could only hope.Really hope that happens, would be VERY cool to hear a preview of the any new Dinosaur music!
Lou said the same thing to me a couple weeks ago when I joked about it. I didn’t press him on the issue so who knows what might happen. He also said that J had scrapped some of the songs they had been working on in the studio and that he (Lou) might be getting a few of his own on the record after all. But again, who knows how it ultimately will work out.
Good to hear Lou may be getting one or two of his own on the disc…
They’ve all pretty much said they’re sick of the same old same old, wondering if Lou’s learned any old Dino songs from Green Mind up or possibly something brand new…doubt it, but hey you never know, we’ll find out soon!
Thanks for the info
"Another Girl Another Planet " wrote:Good to hear Lou may be getting one or two of his own on the disc…
They’ve all pretty much said they’re sick of the same old same old, wondering if Lou’s learned any old Dino songs from Green Mind up or possibly something brand new…doubt it, but hey you never know, we’ll find out soon!
Thanks for the info
It’s been said a million times before, but hell, why don’t they re-learn the great songs off Bug they never play? That’d certainly mix up the set. Or "Keep the Glove"?
Hope that happens, have they done Let It Ride or The Post on the last couple tours?
another one for Toads Place, uses the same title as the last one…
Dinosaur Jr.’s Living All Over Again
By Brian LaRue, Staff WriterCould Dinosaur Jr.’s original lineup — J Mascis on guitar and vocals, Lou Barlow on bass and vocals and Emmett "Murph" Murphy on drums — have brought punk-rooted music to the American mainstream first?
Maybe if they’d really pushed it, if they’d cleaned up their production style, or if Mascis hadn’t fired his foil Barlow in 1989. Still, the significance of the three albums which the original lineup recorded between 1985 and 1988–Dinosaur , You’re Living All Over Me and Bug –is massive and undeniable.
The band played an integral part in the punk underground’s long, slow march toward expressing itself in a form the radio-fed mainstream could understand, creating a natural philosophical and chronological bridge between Husker Du’s hardcore-cum-pop and Nirvana’s anthemic slacker-punk. Using the intensity of hardcore as a jumping-off point, Dinosaur took on Americana-leaning classic rock, heavy metal, ’60s pop, psychedelia, dream-pop, post-punk noise and the jangle of their British indie peers.
Surely, the tension and emotional weirdness of those records mirrored the psychodrama between Mascis, Barlow and Murph–all roughly 20 years old when Dinosaur became an indie sensation. In Michael Azerrad’s history of 1980s American indie rock, "Our Band Could Be Your Life," Azerrad writes of one particular 1988 show — in Naugatuck, of all places — where Barlow started generating feedback on his bass instead of playing his proper parts. Mascis crossed the stage and began beating Barlow with his guitar.
When the Advocate spoke with Barlow last fall about the unexpected 2005 Dinosaur reunion, he said it had been someone else’s idea. "It was J’s management," he said. "Young guys who didn’t realize how deep it went with us. I got a call from them, and I thought, ‘Well, if J does it…’"Happily for Barlow, it became "exactly like it used to be, minus all the baggage"; he compared the tour to a long camping trip. So they’re back for another round, playing Toad’s August 30, delivering all the face-melting with none of the guitar-beatings. Who really misses the latter?
Dinosaur Jr., With Mouthus. August 30. 9pm, at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven. $25. (203) 624-TOAD, toadsplace.com.
Another Girl, I just wanted to let you know that you do an amazingly great job finding articles and news about Dinosaur. Not sure if anyone thanks you for it, so I wanted to say great job and thank you very much for all you do around here. I appreciate it very much.
thanks Tonas…
this is from last week for the Ottawa show, love the Murph bit on the difference practicing together now…
Quote:Welcome to Ear-Bleeding Country!
Chris WhibbsDinosaur Jr. get back together again for the love of brain-melting volume
Hell is freezing over all across the rock world, people. Bands that seemed destined to never again grace a stage together – Pixies, Television, Pink fucking Floyd – somehow buried their grudges [Ed. and whipped out their wallets] and gave us all one more go-around. It seems weird to say that Dinosaur Jr. is going with the trend of the times, since main songwriter J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow (who started in Jr. before doing the equally influential Sebadoh) and drummer Murph made their name by sounding unlike anything else that existed in the late-’80s American underground scene.
Between hardcore bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat and the intense artiness of a burgeoning Sonic Youth, no one thought the cozy college town of Amherst, Massachusetts, would be the next scene to blow up. Yet it was a bizarrely idiosyncratic son of a dentist, Mascis, who decided that things should be loud. Very loud.
For those with a more historical bent, Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life provides an incredible look at the American scene and its various players at the time. In it Mascis delivers his timeless quote: "Ear-bleeding country. That was the concept behind the band."
And yes, it’s all about volume. Drawing the ire of soundmen across America, Dinosaur Jr. is literally about feeling the sound barrelling out of the speakers. Drummer Murph, currently in L.A. practising with Barlow for the upcoming tour, explains, "Dinosaur Jr.’s whole thing is about an unspoken energy. A rumble that showed different faces, whether it was crazy shows or neurotic tendencies or whatever. It’s still really about the energy or the inner workings and the rumblings that go on, and that’s really hard to put a face on or put words too. It’s more esoteric."
He’s surprisingly spot on, as the listener actually has to work for the payoff in their music. Throughout the heavy morass of crunchy guitars and pummelling drums, Mascis sings through the gravel pit in his throat, yet with enough melody to make the music surprisingly accessible. Indeed, the mix of loud volume and emotional, pining lyrics can be seen in the emo/screamo scene that youths hold so close to their wounded hearts. It is this unique formula of jangly pop and heavy metal that critics have accurately said led to the public embracing of such genres like shoegazer in the U.K. and grunge here at home.
Yet achieving this unique mix is a vague and seemingly painstaking process.
"When we record the first thing we focus on are the drums, and a lot of it is ‘feel,’" Murph explains. "J has a really specific feel the way he plays, and he also has a really specific idea of how he wants a song to feel, and so a lot of learning the song isn’t technical but trying to get into that skin and really trying to wear it and be comfortable with it, and then execute it so it actually comes out sounding the way it was intended."
Making it work was definitely a challenge back in the ’80s, as this original line-up had tension from the start. The band was young and personalities just didn’t jive, especially with the always indifferent Mascis.
In regards to practising, Murph notes, "In the old days, he wasn’t one to say, ‘Oh, that sounds good,’ or ‘Gee, that was a good take,’ whereas nowadays he’ll actually say that stuff, which is definitely – when you’re tired and you’ve done eight takes of something – nice. So, yeah, it’s totally different in that aspect."
In Our Band, Azerrad mentions many anecdotes that confirm Dinosaur Jr. was a band waiting to implode. The conflict hit its zenith when Mascis "fired" Barlow after their third album, Bug, which broke up the band, only to be reformed the next day without Barlow. There was even a lawsuit to spice things up.
So, has time healed old wounds?
Murph explains, "[Mascis] had been working with this manager who’s small but he’s a really hands-on guy. He pretty much took care of it and was very official and wrote up contracts and everything was super-fair, which was different from the old days, definitely. Back then we didn’t have a formidable, professional person working with us, and who saw us as three equal members, so it was kinda nice to come back into it [with this new perspective]. I mean, J is still the ringleader and he still kinda produces the majority of the material and ideas, but it’s still up to the three of us to try and execute, interpret and play it."
After all the crazy drama and history, it’s special enough to have them on the same stage together. But to have them working better than ever? Sublime.
Murph confirms the good vibes when simply asked whether this whole exercise is, horror of horrors, fun. "Yeah, it’s way more fun. I found I can enjoy things a lot more, especially touring. Like back in the day it was much more like a whirlwind. You didn’t know what was going on, like, hurry up, play, ‘boom!’ Everything was so fast paced and crazy and now it’s more like you can enjoy it a little more."
I believe that makes two of us.
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