The Sheep Review of More Light

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Here is a review from The Sheep:

J. Mascis & the Fog – More Light

He’s back, our sad, long-haired friend J. Mascis. Former lead singer of Dinosaur Jr., who were an underground sensation during the late eighties and beginning of the nineties and who slightly disappeared from the stage during the last decade with albums that weren’t all that special and singles not touching on the brilliance of "Freak Scene" or "The Wagon". Given that Dinosaur’s last album was almost completely written and performed by Mascis alone, it’s not much of a surprise to see him release a solo album. But, although there are the occasional Dinosaur Jr.-like songs ("Same Day", "All The Girls") the album is quite different from what he did back then. The difference is not as much in the songs, which are still soaked with self-pity, nor in his voice which – luckily – is the same off-key or nearly off-key desperate one as always, but in the way the songs are played and recorded. They sound a lot richer and varied than they did when performed by Dinosaur Jr., which was basically a standard guitar, bass, drum band with Mascis making the difference. Now, for example, some backing vocals are provided, which makes "I’m Not Fine" one of the better rock songs of this year. But on an even brighter note, Kevin Shields is doing some guitar on this album and judging from the final track, the titlesong, this must be true. Never heard such a great vacuum cleaner sound as in this song since, err… "Loveless" from My Bloody Valentine. Hurrah!

Spaceboy

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