Dinosaur Jr
Encyclopedia
Dinosaur Jr. is an American alternative rock
band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts
in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005. Guitarist J Mascis
, bassist Lou Barlow
, and drummer Murph were the band's founding and current members; Mascis has been the group's sole continuous member.
Their distinct sound, characterized by high gain
, extensive use of feedback
and distortion
, and frontman J Mascis's melodic guitar solos, was highly influential in the alternative rock movement of the 1990s.
band called Deep Wound
, formed in 1982 while the pair were attending high school in western Massachusetts
. After high school, they began exploring slower yet still aggressive music such as Black Sabbath
, The Replacements, and Neil Young
. Mascis' college friend Gerard Cosloy
introduced him to bands like Dream Syndicate
, which Mascis in turn showed to Barlow. Barlow explained, "We loved speed metal
...and we loved wimpy-jangly
stuff".
Deep Wound broke up in mid-1984. Cosloy had dropped out of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
to focus on running his independent record label
, Homestead Records
, and promised Mascis that if he were to make a record Homestead would release it. Mascis wrote a number of songs by himself and showed them to Barlow, to whom he offered the bassist position. While Barlow had played guitar in Deep Wound, he accepted as he was impressed by the material Mascis was creating. Barlow said the songs "were fucking brilliant...They were so far beyond. I was still into two-chord songs and basic stuff like 'I'm so sad.' While I was really into my own little tragedy, J was operating in this whole other panorama." Mascis enlisted vocalist Charlie Nakajima, also formerly of Deep Wound, and drummer Emmett Patrick Murphy, otherwise known as Murph, to complete the band. Mascis explained the concept behind the group as "ear-bleeding country."
The band was initially named Mogo, and played their first show on University of Massachusetts Amherst campus in the first week of September 1984. Nakajima went into an anti-cop rant during the performance, and Mascis was so appalled by his behavior at the show that he disbanded the group the next day. A few days later Mascis called Barlow and Murph to form a new band without telling Nakajima; "I was kind of too wimpy to kick him out, exactly," Mascis later admitted, and explained, "Communicating with people has been a constant problem in the band." The trio named themselves Dinosaur, and Mascis and Barlow took over lead vocal duties.
. Their debut album, Dinosaur
was released in 1985. The music was extremely eclectic and revealed a combination of musical styles that was very unusual, especially for the mid-1980s: hardcore punk, Crazy Horse-style garage rock, Black Sabbath-style metal riffs, folk rock, twangy country-rock and gothic music. On the band's later albums, these elements would often be combined into single songs, but on the debut album, each individual song is different stylistically. All of this was delivered with the extreme level of volume and distortion that would become part of the band's signature style. Mascis wrote all of the songs. Some of the singing was done by Mascis in his trademark nasal drawl, often compared with Neil Young, but the majority of the lead vocals were done by Lou Barlow. This is another aspect of the album that is unusual, as Mascis would sing most or all of the lead vocals on all of their subsequent releases. The album did not make much of an impact commercially or critically: it sold only about 1,500 copies in its first year and was largely ignored by the majority of the music press.
After the record's release, Dinosaur would often drive to New York City to perform shows. At one of their shows, the New York-based alternative rock band Sonic Youth
was at first unimpressed by the first Dinosaur performance they saw, but after watching them play several months later, approached the band declaring themselves as fans. The band was bewildered by Sonic Youth's praise; Barlow recalled, "We're like, 'What? How could the coolest band in the world like us?'" Sonic Youth invited Dinosaur to join them on tour in the American Northeast and northern Midwest in September 1986.
with Sonic Youth engineer Wharton Tiers
in New York. During the recording process, tension emerged between Mascis and Murph because Mascis had very specific ideas for the drum parts. Barlow recalled, "J controlled Murph's every drumbeat...And Murph could not handle that. Murph wanted to kill J for the longest time." Gerard Cosloy was excited by the completed album, but was devastated when Mascis told him the band was going to release it on SST Records
. Mascis was reluctant to sign a two-album deal with Homestead, but Cosloy felt betrayed; Cosloy said, "There was no way I couldn't take it personally." After the album's completion Mascis moved to New York, leaving the rest of the band feeling alienated.
You're Living All Over Me was released in 1987; early copies of the record in the Boston area were packaged with the Weed Forestin tape, the first release by Barlow's side project Sebadoh
. The album received much more attention in the indie-rock community than the debut had, and went a long way towards establishing Dinosaur as a major underground band.
While the previous record had featured different musical styles for each song, You're Living All Over Me found the band's various disparate influences merging into each individual song. Although the hardcore punk influences were noticeably more muted than on Dinosaur, the overall sound was much more powerful, with the instruments often recorded very loud and with considerable distortion. While Mascis's guitar, alternating between Black Sabbath-like riffs, squalling solos, dissonant noise-rock and occasional quiet passages, was the main attraction, Barlow's bass, melodic, highly distorted and often playing thick two-note chords, competed for attention. Meanwhile, Murph played the Mascis-composed drum parts in a very heavy and powerful fashion, resulting in a highly unified and unique version of the power trio
format. This time around, Mascis did most of the lead singing, often in a detached drawl that presented a contrast with the extreme music. The songs were highly melodic, albeit with odd song structures that avoided the typical verse-chorus-verse patterns of most rock and pop songs. For the first (and for a long time, only) time in the band's history, Lou Barlow also composed two songs: the hardcore-influenced Lose and an acoustic sonic collage entitled Poledo that anticipated Barlow's work with Sebadoh
.
Immediately following the release of You're Living All Over Me, supergroup
The Dinosaurs
(featuring ex-members of Country Joe and the Fish
, Quicksilver Messenger Service
, Hot Tuna
, Grateful Dead
and Jefferson Airplane
) sued them over the use of the name, prompting the addition of "Jr".
Bug and Barlow's departure Dinosaur Jr had a major breakthrough in the United Kingdom with their debut single for Blast First
, "Freak Scene
" in 1988, a version with censored lyrics being issued for radio consumption. It reached #4 in the UK independent chart, staying on the chart for 12 weeks. The band's third album Bug
followed shortly afterwards, reaching #1 on the UK independent chart and spending 38 weeks in the chart. The band's first UK singles chart
placing came in 1989 with their cover of The Cure
's "Just Like Heaven
".
Bug was similar in musical style to You're Living All Over Me, with the contrast between the extremely distorted instruments and the melodic vocal parts intact, as was the band's unique blend of musical influences. However, this time out, there was even more melody and the song structures were more conventional. Mascis was exhibiting an even tighter control over the band's sound, singing lead vocals on all but one song and composing the parts for Murph and Lou to play. Barlow's only lead vocal was on the album's final track, featuring an overdriven, noise-rock backing track and Barlow screaming "Why don't you like me?"
It is Mascis' least favourite of the band's albums. In an interview in 2005, after the original line-up had reformed, he said, “‘Bug’ is my least favourite of all our records,” says Mascis. “I like some of the songs but, I dunno, I guess I really don’t like the vibe of it.”
Despite the album's success, tension between Mascis and Barlow began interfering with the band's productivity, and in 1989, after touring in support of Bug, Barlow was kicked out of the band. Barlow now focused all of his attention on the former side-project Sebadoh
. "The Freed Pig", the opening track on 1991's Sebadoh III
, documents Barlow's frustration with Mascis and his poor treatment within the band.
Meanwhile, the band embarked on an Australian tour with Donna Dresch
filling in for Barlow. In 1990, the band released a new single, The Wagon on Sub Pop
, their first release since Barlow's departure. The single featured a short lived lineup including Don Fleming
and Jay Spiegel from the band Gumball, in addition to Mascis and Murph.
in 1991. The new record was virtually a J. Mascis solo album, with Murph playing drums on only a few songs, as well as mimimal contributions from Fleming and Spiegel, who were out of the band by the time the album was released. Mascis (who had started out as a drummer) recorded many of the drum parts by himself, layering the various instrumental parts through overdubbing. While Mascis' guitar, voice and songwriting ensured that the album had its share of the band's old sound, it was much quieter and more layered, with more use of keyboards and acoustic guitar, and with a noticeable lack of the power-trio roar that the original lineup had been known for.
For touring purposes, Mascis first added Van Conner
, and then Mike Johnson
to handle the bass parts and embarked on several tours to support Green Mind, with support acts that included Nirvana. In 1991, Sire records released an EP entitled Whatever's Cool With Me
that featured old B-sides coupled with one new tune. In 1992, the band was part of the "Rollercoaster" tour, a package tour based on the successful Lollapolooza festival, which featured The Jesus and Mary Chain
, My Bloody Valentine and Blur
.
The band found their live shows well-received in the changing musical climate of the early '90s, and decided to record new material with the new lineup. This time, the recording sessions were with full participation from Murph and Johnson, with the former playing most of the drums and the latter playing all of the bass parts, singing harmony vocals and even contributing a few guitar solos. This material represented the peak of the band's commercial success, with the single "Start Choppin'" reaching the top 20 in the UK, and the album that followed, Where You Been
, reaching the UK top 10 and the US top 50. The opening track, "Out There", had an accompanying video and was aired on MTV for a short time, as the show 120 Minutes
was still popular as a late-night "alternative" video show. Although the new material was more accessible than the band's 1980s albums, in terms of playing it represented a partial return to the more unrestrained power-trio sound of the original lineup.
Murph left the band after touring for Where You Been, leaving Mascis as the sole remaining original member. He was replaced for the band's live shows by George Berz. However, the band's subsequent albums would be recorded mostly by J Mascis on his own, playing everything except for the bass and some of the harmony vocals, which continued to be handled by Mike Johnson. The commercial success continued with 1994's Without a Sound
, which placed well in both the US and UK album charts. After 1997's Hand It Over, Mascis finally retired the Dinosaur Jr name. In 1999, he released the first of two solo albums under the name J Mascis and the Fog
.
/Barlow
détente started in the mid-'90s when Mascis began showing up at Sebadoh
shows. "I think he was kind of aware of how much shit I was talking about him, but I don't think he really ever pursued any of it. One of the things that really triggered this, for me to finally just go, 'Hey, you know, maybe this could work,' is when I realized that maybe J wasn't really holding any kind of grudge against me because he didn't like me. I was thinking, maybe he just didn't realize what he had done, or maybe he wasn't really aware of how much he'd actually hurt me. And when I started to realize that, he kind of became more human to me," Barlow noted in a 2005 interview.
In 2002, the two shared the stage for two shows in London, with Barlow singing I Wanna Be Your Dog along with Mascis, Ron Asheton
, Scott Asheton
and Mike Watt
, who had been performing Stooges
songs as "Asheton, Asheton, Mascis and Watt".
Mascis regained the master rights to the band's first three albums from SST in 2004, and arranged for their reissue on Merge
early 2005. Later that year, he and Barlow shared the stage at benefit show for autism
at Smith College
organized by Barlow's mother in Northampton, Massachusetts
, and played together as Deep Wound
after Mascis and Sebadoh had completed their respective sets.
Following the reissues in 2005, Mascis, Barlow and Murph finally reunited to play on the Late Late Show on April 15, 2005 and in June that year, they kicked off a tour of Europe. While performing in New York City in 2006, much of the band's equipment was stolen while stored outside their hotel and has not yet been recovered. The band members were later among the curators of 2006's All Tomorrow's Parties
festival.
In 2007, the original members of Dinosaur Jr released Beyond
on Fat Possum Records
, their first album of new material as a trio since Bug in 1988. It was met with critical acclaim, rating an 8.4 from Pitchfork Media
and garnering positive reviews from the music press as a whole. It was considered somewhat of a sonic paradox in that even though it featured the original members who produced "two records so drenched in noise they still sound like aural assaults decades after their original release," sonically it resembled the major label releases of the 1990s in both production values and stylistic range. On the other hand, while the sound was not as extreme as the original lineup's 1980's albums, it did feature a much bigger, more unrestrained, and more live-sounding feel than their 1990's albums, though Barlow's bass was noticeably quieter than in the old days. Barlow did make his mark on the music in other ways: for the first time since You're Living All Over Me, he contributed to the songwriting. The album went on to good commercial success, debuting on the Billboard 200 at number 69 its opening week.
In February 2009, the band signed with indie label Jagjaguwar
. The band's first release on the new label was titled Farm and released on June 23, 2009. Murph said the album was recorded at Mascis' home and marks return to the heavier, Where You Been LP era. The album was released to positive reviews.
To promote the album, the band played Farms lead-off track, "Pieces," on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
on June 25, 2009.
band; however the band's musical style, compared to its underground contemporaries in the 1980s, differed in several ways. This included the influence of classic rock on the band's music, their use of feedback, extreme volume and the loud-quiet dynamic, and frontman Mascis' droning vocals. Gerald Cosloy, head of Homestead Records, summarised the band's music: "It was its own bizarre hybrid...It wasn't exactly pop, it wasn't exactly punk rock — it was completely its own thing".
Mascis listened to classic rock
artists such as the Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys
, elements of which were incorporated into Dinosaur Jr's sound. In addition, Mascis was also a fan of many punk and hardcore bands such as The Birthday Party
, and has frequently noted Nick Cave
as an influence. Dinosaur Jr's members also combined elements of hardcore punk
and noise rock
in their songs, which often featured a large amount of feedback, distortion and extreme volume. When the master tape of You're Living All Over Me
arrived at SST, the label's production manager noticed the level on the tape was so high it was distorting; however, Mascis confirmed it was the way he wanted the album to sound. To accentuate their use of volume, the band employed and popularised the quiet-loud change of dynamic in many of its songs, a technique that would be later popularised by Pixies, Nirvana
and alternative rock in general during the 1990s.
Similar to Mascis's guitar work, Barlow's bass lines, with its alternating heavily distorted, fast chords and pulverizing lows, draw heavily from both his hardcore past and is influenced by musicians such as Lemmy from Motörhead and Johnny Ramone
. "Johnny Ramone is my hero. I wanted to make that rhythmic chugging sound like he got playing guitar with the Ramones. And, I found that I got a bigger sound by strumming farther up the neck."
Mascis's vocals are another distinctive feature of Dinosaur Jr's music. He attributed his "whiny low-key drawl", the opposite of the hardcore punk
"bark", to artists such as John Fogerty
and Mick Jagger
. His style also resembled Neil Young
's, but Mascis disputed this, and later commented: "That got annoying, being compared all the time". His drawl epitomised the band's slacker ethos and relaxed attitude; author Michael Azerrad
said "even Mascis seemed removed from the feelings he was conveying in the music".
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005. Guitarist J Mascis
J Mascis
J Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...
, bassist Lou Barlow
Lou Barlow
Louis Knox Barlow is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion. Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
, and drummer Murph were the band's founding and current members; Mascis has been the group's sole continuous member.
Their distinct sound, characterized by high gain
Gain
In electronics, gain is a measure of the ability of a circuit to increase the power or amplitude of a signal from the input to the output. It is usually defined as the mean ratio of the signal output of a system to the signal input of the same system. It may also be defined on a logarithmic scale,...
, extensive use of feedback
Audio feedback
Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...
and distortion
Distortion (guitar)
Distortion effects create "warm", "dirty" and "fuzzy" sounds by compressing the peaks of a musical instrument's sound wave and adding overtones. The three principal types of distortion effects are overdrive, distortion and fuzz. Distortion effects are sometimes called “gain” effects, as distorted...
, and frontman J Mascis's melodic guitar solos, was highly influential in the alternative rock movement of the 1990s.
Formation
Mascis and Barlow had previously played together in a hardcore punkHardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band called Deep Wound
Deep Wound
Deep Wound was a hardcore punk band formed in 1982 in Westfield, MA. They released one self-titled 7" and contributed two songs to the compilation LP, Bands That Could Be God, both of which are sought after by fans and record collectors alike.-Overview:...
, formed in 1982 while the pair were attending high school in western Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. After high school, they began exploring slower yet still aggressive music such as Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, The Replacements, and Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
. Mascis' college friend Gerard Cosloy
Gerard Cosloy
Gerard Cosloy is an American music industry executive.-Biography:Cosloy was raised in Wayland, Massachusetts, a western suburb of Boston. While he was in high school, he became involved in the local hardcore punk scene, put together many punk shows, and started Conflict, a mimeographed fanzine of...
introduced him to bands like Dream Syndicate
Dream Syndicate
The Dream Syndicate was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California active from 1981 to 1989. The band was associated with the Paisley Underground music movement.-History:...
, which Mascis in turn showed to Barlow. Barlow explained, "We loved speed metal
Speed metal
Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
...and we loved wimpy-jangly
Jangle pop
Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock from the mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming or jangly guitars and pop melodies of the '60s" bands such as The Byrds, with their electric twelve-string guitars and power pop song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream "pop-based...
stuff".
Deep Wound broke up in mid-1984. Cosloy had dropped out of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
to focus on running his independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, Homestead Records
Homestead Records
Homestead Records was a Long Island, NY based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading. It was founded in 1984 by Sam Berger, who was the American Independent buyer for Dutch East India Trading. Berger was finding that many bands who had perhaps released their own first 45 were...
, and promised Mascis that if he were to make a record Homestead would release it. Mascis wrote a number of songs by himself and showed them to Barlow, to whom he offered the bassist position. While Barlow had played guitar in Deep Wound, he accepted as he was impressed by the material Mascis was creating. Barlow said the songs "were fucking brilliant...They were so far beyond. I was still into two-chord songs and basic stuff like 'I'm so sad.' While I was really into my own little tragedy, J was operating in this whole other panorama." Mascis enlisted vocalist Charlie Nakajima, also formerly of Deep Wound, and drummer Emmett Patrick Murphy, otherwise known as Murph, to complete the band. Mascis explained the concept behind the group as "ear-bleeding country."
The band was initially named Mogo, and played their first show on University of Massachusetts Amherst campus in the first week of September 1984. Nakajima went into an anti-cop rant during the performance, and Mascis was so appalled by his behavior at the show that he disbanded the group the next day. A few days later Mascis called Barlow and Murph to form a new band without telling Nakajima; "I was kind of too wimpy to kick him out, exactly," Mascis later admitted, and explained, "Communicating with people has been a constant problem in the band." The trio named themselves Dinosaur, and Mascis and Barlow took over lead vocal duties.
Dinosaur
Mascis took Cosloy up on his offer to release an album and Dinosaur recorded their debut album for $500 at a home studio in the woods outside Northampton, MassachusettsNorthampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
. Their debut album, Dinosaur
Dinosaur (album)
"Bulbs of Passion" was not featured on the original vinyl LP; it was a b-side to the "Repulsion" single. Subsequent reissues on cassette and compact disc featured it as the last song. The 2005 reissue on Merge Records placed "Bulbs of Passion" as the first track at J Mascis' request...
was released in 1985. The music was extremely eclectic and revealed a combination of musical styles that was very unusual, especially for the mid-1980s: hardcore punk, Crazy Horse-style garage rock, Black Sabbath-style metal riffs, folk rock, twangy country-rock and gothic music. On the band's later albums, these elements would often be combined into single songs, but on the debut album, each individual song is different stylistically. All of this was delivered with the extreme level of volume and distortion that would become part of the band's signature style. Mascis wrote all of the songs. Some of the singing was done by Mascis in his trademark nasal drawl, often compared with Neil Young, but the majority of the lead vocals were done by Lou Barlow. This is another aspect of the album that is unusual, as Mascis would sing most or all of the lead vocals on all of their subsequent releases. The album did not make much of an impact commercially or critically: it sold only about 1,500 copies in its first year and was largely ignored by the majority of the music press.
After the record's release, Dinosaur would often drive to New York City to perform shows. At one of their shows, the New York-based alternative rock band Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
was at first unimpressed by the first Dinosaur performance they saw, but after watching them play several months later, approached the band declaring themselves as fans. The band was bewildered by Sonic Youth's praise; Barlow recalled, "We're like, 'What? How could the coolest band in the world like us?'" Sonic Youth invited Dinosaur to join them on tour in the American Northeast and northern Midwest in September 1986.
You're Living All Over Me
Dinosaur recorded much of their second album You're Living All Over MeYou're Living All Over Me
You're Living All Over Me is the second album by the American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in 1987 on SST Records. The album was named after a line uttered by frontman J Mascis while on tour with the band....
with Sonic Youth engineer Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers is an American audio engineer, record producer, drummer and percussionist.- Biography :Diplomed from Villanova University , he moved to New York City in 1976 and was part of the No Wave scene.As an audio engineer and record producer, he has worked on projects such as Sonic Youth,...
in New York. During the recording process, tension emerged between Mascis and Murph because Mascis had very specific ideas for the drum parts. Barlow recalled, "J controlled Murph's every drumbeat...And Murph could not handle that. Murph wanted to kill J for the longest time." Gerard Cosloy was excited by the completed album, but was devastated when Mascis told him the band was going to release it on SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
. Mascis was reluctant to sign a two-album deal with Homestead, but Cosloy felt betrayed; Cosloy said, "There was no way I couldn't take it personally." After the album's completion Mascis moved to New York, leaving the rest of the band feeling alienated.
You're Living All Over Me was released in 1987; early copies of the record in the Boston area were packaged with the Weed Forestin tape, the first release by Barlow's side project Sebadoh
Sebadoh
Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
. The album received much more attention in the indie-rock community than the debut had, and went a long way towards establishing Dinosaur as a major underground band.
While the previous record had featured different musical styles for each song, You're Living All Over Me found the band's various disparate influences merging into each individual song. Although the hardcore punk influences were noticeably more muted than on Dinosaur, the overall sound was much more powerful, with the instruments often recorded very loud and with considerable distortion. While Mascis's guitar, alternating between Black Sabbath-like riffs, squalling solos, dissonant noise-rock and occasional quiet passages, was the main attraction, Barlow's bass, melodic, highly distorted and often playing thick two-note chords, competed for attention. Meanwhile, Murph played the Mascis-composed drum parts in a very heavy and powerful fashion, resulting in a highly unified and unique version of the power trio
Power trio
A power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
format. This time around, Mascis did most of the lead singing, often in a detached drawl that presented a contrast with the extreme music. The songs were highly melodic, albeit with odd song structures that avoided the typical verse-chorus-verse patterns of most rock and pop songs. For the first (and for a long time, only) time in the band's history, Lou Barlow also composed two songs: the hardcore-influenced Lose and an acoustic sonic collage entitled Poledo that anticipated Barlow's work with Sebadoh
Sebadoh
Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
.
Immediately following the release of You're Living All Over Me, supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
The Dinosaurs
The Dinosaurs
The Dinosaurs, formed in 1982, was a Bay Area supergroup to emerge from the psychedelic music era of San Francisco. The group consisted of Peter Albin of Big Brother and the Holding Company, John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Papa John Creach of Hot Tuna, Spencer Dryden of Jefferson...
(featuring ex-members of Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish was a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1966 to 1971, and also regarded as a seminal influence to psychedelic rock.-History:...
, Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco.-Introduction:Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked...
, Hot Tuna
Hot Tuna
Hot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
, Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
and Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
) sued them over the use of the name, prompting the addition of "Jr".
Bug and Barlow's departure Dinosaur Jr had a major breakthrough in the United Kingdom with their debut single for Blast First
Blast First
Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label, Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticist journal Blast, published by Wyndham Lewis in 1914...
, "Freak Scene
Freak Scene
"Freak Scene" is a song by American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., the opening track on the group's third studio album Bug . Written and produced by frontman J. Mascis, the song was recorded at Fort Apache Studios by engineers Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade...
" in 1988, a version with censored lyrics being issued for radio consumption. It reached #4 in the UK independent chart, staying on the chart for 12 weeks. The band's third album Bug
Bug (Dinosaur Jr album)
Bug is the third album by American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in October 1988 through SST Records.It was the last Dinosaur Jr album with original bassist Lou Barlow until Beyond in 2007....
followed shortly afterwards, reaching #1 on the UK independent chart and spending 38 weeks in the chart. The band's first UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
placing came in 1989 with their cover of The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
's "Just Like Heaven
Just like Heaven (song)
"Just Like Heaven" is a song by the British alternative rock band The Cure. The group wrote most of the song during recording sessions in southern France in 1987. The lyrics were written by the band's frontman Robert Smith, who drew inspiration from a past trip to the sea shore with his future wife...
".
Bug was similar in musical style to You're Living All Over Me, with the contrast between the extremely distorted instruments and the melodic vocal parts intact, as was the band's unique blend of musical influences. However, this time out, there was even more melody and the song structures were more conventional. Mascis was exhibiting an even tighter control over the band's sound, singing lead vocals on all but one song and composing the parts for Murph and Lou to play. Barlow's only lead vocal was on the album's final track, featuring an overdriven, noise-rock backing track and Barlow screaming "Why don't you like me?"
It is Mascis' least favourite of the band's albums. In an interview in 2005, after the original line-up had reformed, he said, “‘Bug’ is my least favourite of all our records,” says Mascis. “I like some of the songs but, I dunno, I guess I really don’t like the vibe of it.”
Despite the album's success, tension between Mascis and Barlow began interfering with the band's productivity, and in 1989, after touring in support of Bug, Barlow was kicked out of the band. Barlow now focused all of his attention on the former side-project Sebadoh
Sebadoh
Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
. "The Freed Pig", the opening track on 1991's Sebadoh III
Sebadoh III
III is the third album by the American indie rock band, Sebadoh. It was released by Homestead Records in 1991.III was the first full length Sebadoh album to feature Jason Loewenstein, who joined the band's two founding members Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney in 1989, and debuted on the "Gimme Indie...
, documents Barlow's frustration with Mascis and his poor treatment within the band.
Meanwhile, the band embarked on an Australian tour with Donna Dresch
Donna Dresch
Donna Dresch is an American punk rock musician, perhaps best known as founder, guitarist and bass guitarist of Team Dresch and the Queen of Grunge....
filling in for Barlow. In 1990, the band released a new single, The Wagon on Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
, their first release since Barlow's departure. The single featured a short lived lineup including Don Fleming
Don Fleming
Donald Denver "Don" Fleming was an American college and professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League for three seasons in the early 1960s. Fleming played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the...
and Jay Spiegel from the band Gumball, in addition to Mascis and Murph.
Major label years
Despite the ongoing lineup turmoil, Dinosaur Jr signed with Sire Records in 1990. They made their major-label debut Green MindGreen Mind
-Personnel:*J Mascis - Vocals, Guitar, Producer*Murph - Drums *Joe Harvard - Guitar, Tape*Jay Spiegel - Drums, Tambourine, Tom-Tom*Don Fleming - Bass, Guitar, Vocals *Sean Slade - Engineer, Mellotron*Tom Walters - Assistant Engineer...
in 1991. The new record was virtually a J. Mascis solo album, with Murph playing drums on only a few songs, as well as mimimal contributions from Fleming and Spiegel, who were out of the band by the time the album was released. Mascis (who had started out as a drummer) recorded many of the drum parts by himself, layering the various instrumental parts through overdubbing. While Mascis' guitar, voice and songwriting ensured that the album had its share of the band's old sound, it was much quieter and more layered, with more use of keyboards and acoustic guitar, and with a noticeable lack of the power-trio roar that the original lineup had been known for.
For touring purposes, Mascis first added Van Conner
Van Conner
Van Conner is an American rock musician. In 1984 he co-founded the band Screaming Trees with his brother Gary Lee Conner and close friends Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel. On the 25 June 2000 Screaming Trees announced their official breakup...
, and then Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson (bassist)
Mike Johnson is an American songwriter and bass guitarist. He was born in Grants Pass, Oregon and played in Eugene, Oregon punk band Snakepit from 1984-1989. He replaced Lou Barlow in Dinosaur Jr in 1991 and played with the band live and on its recordings from 1991 to 1998. Concurrently he...
to handle the bass parts and embarked on several tours to support Green Mind, with support acts that included Nirvana. In 1991, Sire records released an EP entitled Whatever's Cool With Me
Whatever's Cool with Me
Whatever's Cool with Me compiles the complete "Whatever's Cool With Me" single and the European single of "The Wagon" by Dinosaur Jr, released in 1991.-Track listing:CD Maxi-Single # "Whatever's Cool With Me" - 4:34...
that featured old B-sides coupled with one new tune. In 1992, the band was part of the "Rollercoaster" tour, a package tour based on the successful Lollapolooza festival, which featured The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...
, My Bloody Valentine and Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
.
The band found their live shows well-received in the changing musical climate of the early '90s, and decided to record new material with the new lineup. This time, the recording sessions were with full participation from Murph and Johnson, with the former playing most of the drums and the latter playing all of the bass parts, singing harmony vocals and even contributing a few guitar solos. This material represented the peak of the band's commercial success, with the single "Start Choppin'" reaching the top 20 in the UK, and the album that followed, Where You Been
Where You Been
Where You Been is the fifth official studio album by Dinosaur Jr., released on February 9, 1993. "Start Choppin'" was their biggest hit, hitting number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S., and the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. This was Murph's last recording with J Mascis until 2007's...
, reaching the UK top 10 and the US top 50. The opening track, "Out There", had an accompanying video and was aired on MTV for a short time, as the show 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
was still popular as a late-night "alternative" video show. Although the new material was more accessible than the band's 1980s albums, in terms of playing it represented a partial return to the more unrestrained power-trio sound of the original lineup.
Murph left the band after touring for Where You Been, leaving Mascis as the sole remaining original member. He was replaced for the band's live shows by George Berz. However, the band's subsequent albums would be recorded mostly by J Mascis on his own, playing everything except for the bass and some of the harmony vocals, which continued to be handled by Mike Johnson. The commercial success continued with 1994's Without a Sound
Without a Sound
Without a Sound is the sixth studio album by alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr, released on August 23, 1994. It is the first Dinosaur Jr. album not to feature Murph on drums, who is replaced by vocalist and guitarist J. Mascis. It is also their most commercially successful album, peaking at number...
, which placed well in both the US and UK album charts. After 1997's Hand It Over, Mascis finally retired the Dinosaur Jr name. In 1999, he released the first of two solo albums under the name J Mascis and the Fog
J Mascis and the Fog
J Mascis + The Fog is the post-Dinosaur Jr musical project embarked by Dinosaur Jr's founding member, musician J Mascis.-History:After fulfilling his contractual obligations to Blanco y Negro in the UK and Sire/Reprise in the US, Mascis holed up in his home studio in Amherst, MA, which he named...
.
2005 reunion and onward
The beginnings of a MascisJ Mascis
J Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...
/Barlow
Lou Barlow
Louis Knox Barlow is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion. Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
détente started in the mid-'90s when Mascis began showing up at Sebadoh
Sebadoh
Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
shows. "I think he was kind of aware of how much shit I was talking about him, but I don't think he really ever pursued any of it. One of the things that really triggered this, for me to finally just go, 'Hey, you know, maybe this could work,' is when I realized that maybe J wasn't really holding any kind of grudge against me because he didn't like me. I was thinking, maybe he just didn't realize what he had done, or maybe he wasn't really aware of how much he'd actually hurt me. And when I started to realize that, he kind of became more human to me," Barlow noted in a 2005 interview.
In 2002, the two shared the stage for two shows in London, with Barlow singing I Wanna Be Your Dog along with Mascis, Ron Asheton
Ron Asheton
Ronald Frank Asheton was an American guitarist and co-songwriter with Iggy Pop for the rock band The Stooges.Asheton is ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stones list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time....
, Scott Asheton
Scott Asheton
Scott "Rock Action" Asheton is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band The Stooges...
and Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
, who had been performing Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
songs as "Asheton, Asheton, Mascis and Watt".
Mascis regained the master rights to the band's first three albums from SST in 2004, and arranged for their reissue on Merge
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
early 2005. Later that year, he and Barlow shared the stage at benefit show for autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
organized by Barlow's mother in Northampton, Massachusetts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
, and played together as Deep Wound
Deep Wound
Deep Wound was a hardcore punk band formed in 1982 in Westfield, MA. They released one self-titled 7" and contributed two songs to the compilation LP, Bands That Could Be God, both of which are sought after by fans and record collectors alike.-Overview:...
after Mascis and Sebadoh had completed their respective sets.
Following the reissues in 2005, Mascis, Barlow and Murph finally reunited to play on the Late Late Show on April 15, 2005 and in June that year, they kicked off a tour of Europe. While performing in New York City in 2006, much of the band's equipment was stolen while stored outside their hotel and has not yet been recovered. The band members were later among the curators of 2006's All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival.
In 2007, the original members of Dinosaur Jr released Beyond
Beyond (Dinosaur Jr album)
Beyond is the eighth studio album by the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. It is their first LP in a decade, and the first album by the original lineup since 1988's Bug. The band planned a full world tour in 2007 to support the album...
on Fat Possum Records
Fat Possum Records
Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording hitherto unknown Mississippi blues artists . Recently, Fat Possum has signed younger rock acts to its roster...
, their first album of new material as a trio since Bug in 1988. It was met with critical acclaim, rating an 8.4 from Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
and garnering positive reviews from the music press as a whole. It was considered somewhat of a sonic paradox in that even though it featured the original members who produced "two records so drenched in noise they still sound like aural assaults decades after their original release," sonically it resembled the major label releases of the 1990s in both production values and stylistic range. On the other hand, while the sound was not as extreme as the original lineup's 1980's albums, it did feature a much bigger, more unrestrained, and more live-sounding feel than their 1990's albums, though Barlow's bass was noticeably quieter than in the old days. Barlow did make his mark on the music in other ways: for the first time since You're Living All Over Me, he contributed to the songwriting. The album went on to good commercial success, debuting on the Billboard 200 at number 69 its opening week.
In February 2009, the band signed with indie label Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
. The band's first release on the new label was titled Farm and released on June 23, 2009. Murph said the album was recorded at Mascis' home and marks return to the heavier, Where You Been LP era. The album was released to positive reviews.
To promote the album, the band played Farms lead-off track, "Pieces," on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
on June 25, 2009.
Musical style and influences
Dinosaur Jr is considered to be an alternative rockAlternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band; however the band's musical style, compared to its underground contemporaries in the 1980s, differed in several ways. This included the influence of classic rock on the band's music, their use of feedback, extreme volume and the loud-quiet dynamic, and frontman Mascis' droning vocals. Gerald Cosloy, head of Homestead Records, summarised the band's music: "It was its own bizarre hybrid...It wasn't exactly pop, it wasn't exactly punk rock — it was completely its own thing".
Mascis listened to classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
artists such as the Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, elements of which were incorporated into Dinosaur Jr's sound. In addition, Mascis was also a fan of many punk and hardcore bands such as The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (band)
The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...
, and has frequently noted Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
as an influence. Dinosaur Jr's members also combined elements of hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
and noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
in their songs, which often featured a large amount of feedback, distortion and extreme volume. When the master tape of You're Living All Over Me
You're Living All Over Me
You're Living All Over Me is the second album by the American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in 1987 on SST Records. The album was named after a line uttered by frontman J Mascis while on tour with the band....
arrived at SST, the label's production manager noticed the level on the tape was so high it was distorting; however, Mascis confirmed it was the way he wanted the album to sound. To accentuate their use of volume, the band employed and popularised the quiet-loud change of dynamic in many of its songs, a technique that would be later popularised by Pixies, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
and alternative rock in general during the 1990s.
Similar to Mascis's guitar work, Barlow's bass lines, with its alternating heavily distorted, fast chords and pulverizing lows, draw heavily from both his hardcore past and is influenced by musicians such as Lemmy from Motörhead and Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone
John William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
. "Johnny Ramone is my hero. I wanted to make that rhythmic chugging sound like he got playing guitar with the Ramones. And, I found that I got a bigger sound by strumming farther up the neck."
Mascis's vocals are another distinctive feature of Dinosaur Jr's music. He attributed his "whiny low-key drawl", the opposite of the hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
"bark", to artists such as John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
and Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
. His style also resembled Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
's, but Mascis disputed this, and later commented: "That got annoying, being compared all the time". His drawl epitomised the band's slacker ethos and relaxed attitude; author Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad is an American author, journalist and musician. He grew up in the New York City area and received his BA degree from Columbia College in 1983...
said "even Mascis seemed removed from the feelings he was conveying in the music".
Discography
- DinosaurDinosaur (album)"Bulbs of Passion" was not featured on the original vinyl LP; it was a b-side to the "Repulsion" single. Subsequent reissues on cassette and compact disc featured it as the last song. The 2005 reissue on Merge Records placed "Bulbs of Passion" as the first track at J Mascis' request...
(1985) - You're Living All Over MeYou're Living All Over MeYou're Living All Over Me is the second album by the American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in 1987 on SST Records. The album was named after a line uttered by frontman J Mascis while on tour with the band....
(1987) - BugBug (Dinosaur Jr album)Bug is the third album by American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in October 1988 through SST Records.It was the last Dinosaur Jr album with original bassist Lou Barlow until Beyond in 2007....
(1988) - Green MindGreen Mind-Personnel:*J Mascis - Vocals, Guitar, Producer*Murph - Drums *Joe Harvard - Guitar, Tape*Jay Spiegel - Drums, Tambourine, Tom-Tom*Don Fleming - Bass, Guitar, Vocals *Sean Slade - Engineer, Mellotron*Tom Walters - Assistant Engineer...
(1991) - Where You BeenWhere You BeenWhere You Been is the fifth official studio album by Dinosaur Jr., released on February 9, 1993. "Start Choppin'" was their biggest hit, hitting number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S., and the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. This was Murph's last recording with J Mascis until 2007's...
(1993) - Without a SoundWithout a SoundWithout a Sound is the sixth studio album by alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr, released on August 23, 1994. It is the first Dinosaur Jr. album not to feature Murph on drums, who is replaced by vocalist and guitarist J. Mascis. It is also their most commercially successful album, peaking at number...
(1994) - Hand It Over (1997)
- BeyondBeyond (Dinosaur Jr album)Beyond is the eighth studio album by the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. It is their first LP in a decade, and the first album by the original lineup since 1988's Bug. The band planned a full world tour in 2007 to support the album...
(2007) - FarmFarm (album)-Track listing:All songs written by J Mascis except as noted.-Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks:-External links:* at Pitchfork Media* at Pitchfork Media...
(2009)