West of Boston sits a lazy city named Amherst, Massachusetts. It’s a quiet place with long winters and probably not where you’d expect one of America’s loudest indie rock bands to originate from.
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J Mascis and Lou Barlow played together in a hardcore band in high school called Deep Wound. Then, they fell in love with Black Sabbath and slowed things down. Mascis had an idea for a band playing “ear-bleeding country.” He combined the doom metal of Sabbath with the power pop of The Replacements and Neil Young’s soft vocals for a new group called Dinosaur. Murph joined Mascis and Barlow on drums. They added “Junior” after being sued by a supergroup called Dinosaurs.
Dinosaur was released in 1985. Though it’s a folksy album, it foreshadowed the furious power of Dinosaur Jr.’s future sound. The band cranked up the distortion on their second album, You’re Living All Over Me (1987). It’s considered one of the best underground rock albums of the ’80s.
Dinosaur Jr.’s third album, Bug, was recorded by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie, who are famous for their work with another Massachusetts band, Pixies. The alternative rock sound coming out of America’s northeast created a new sound that would touch a songwriter in Seattle named Kurt Cobain. It would also reach another musician in England, Thom Yorke.
Get in the mood to destroy your speakers with Dinosaur Jr.’s top five must-listen songs.
5. “Out There,” from Where You Been (1993)
Living under all the glorious fuzz and sonic chaos is melody. J Mascis has an instinct for melody, and it lives inside even his noisiest riffs. On “Out There,” he whispers over a wall of guitars and feedback. When he does raise his voice, he sounds strained and desperate before returning to the softer talk-singing he’s known for, echoing Lou Reed. The guitar solo is triumphant, and it’s one of his best. He sings, I know you’re out there / I know that space is not a race, while celestial bells chime over a continuing guitar solo. The song crescendos to an explosion of feedback, leaving the church bell sounding damaged, like it’s been exposed to a violent Mascis-induced storm.
4. “The Wagon,” from Green Mind (1991)
Green Mind is Dinosaur Jr.’s first major label album and their first without Barlow on bass. It’s essentially a J Mascis solo album; he recorded most of the instruments himself. Drummer Murph is featured only on three songs—including “The Wagon.” The power and steadiness of Murph’s playing are palpable. It drives Mascis through a story about the band’s use of station wagons in the early days of touring. Mascis and Barlow’s parents had station wagons, and that’s how they’d get around. Mascis creates a call-and-response vocal with himself, with the taunting lyric: You won’t see me.
3. “Freak Scene,” from Bug (1988)
Mascis’ love of distortion is a well known and defining piece of Dinosaur Jr. The band’s not-so-secret weapon is the jangly power pop living under all the fuzz. “Freak Show” is the band’s defining song for meter-destroying noise rock and the sweet chimes of the ’60s. Barlow’s bass playing drives the song, and you get the feeling the speakers are on the verge of giving up. Thankfully, they don’t. Mascis delivers one of his most epic guitar solos before the song breaks for him to sing, Sometimes I think I’ll kill you / Just don’t let me f–k up will you / ’Cause when I need a friend, it’s still you. If you only had to play one Dinosaur Jr. song, this would be the one.
2. “Start Choppin’,” from Where You Been (1993)
A Fender Jazzmaster in the hands of Mascis isn’t only capable of ear-bleeding fuzz but also oozes beautiful pop. His hooky riff brings Dinosaur Jr. into a more accessible space on Where You Been. The vocal melody on “Start Choppin’” is unforgettable, with Mascis sweetly singing in falsetto. The beauty-and-the-beast combination of his vulnerable voice and muscular band makes “Start Choppin’” an early ’90s classic. Then Mascis dive-bombs his way through a guitar solo with melody and virtuosity. Where You Been is drummer Murph’s final recording with Dinosaur Jr. until he returned for Beyond in 2007. The trio had survived Barlow’s departure. Mascis was now the last man standing.
1. “Feel the Pain,” from Without a Sound (1994)
Thanks to MTV, “Feel the Pain” is as close to a hit single as Dinosaur Jr. has. Without a Sound is the band’s first recording without original drummer Murph. How did Mascis respond? He played drums and, along with bassist Mike Johnson, recorded Dinosaur Jr.’s most commercially successful album. “Feel the Pain” is another classic riff from Mascis, and the song is punctuated with his explosive drumming. The song’s tempo shifts throughout and doesn’t quite have the steadiness of Murph’s backbone groove. Mascis said his father’s death hung over the album. “Feel the Pain” is an emotionally wrought song; MTV and a wider audience responded to Mascis’ exposed wounds, bringing Dinosaur Jr. closer to the mainstream.
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Photo by Neilson Barnard/WireImage
