Sunday, October 21, 2012

Album Review: Dinosaur Jr - Green Mind

1991's Green Mind was the first post-Lou Barlow album. It starts in a 'business-as-usual' way, rather abruptly with J Mascis riffing away on The Wagon. This track comes across as a little Dino-by-numbers, it's not as strong as their previous openers. However the rest of the album settles into a mellow groove. Tracks like Puke + Cry, Water and the Mellotron-dominated Thumb have a less urgent, more melodic feel than previous albums.
 
Mascis does a Barlow-style, 'sensitive' acoustic number Flying Cloud, and stripped of the electric bombast his voice sounds weedier than ever. It's not all mellow gold, How'd You Pin That One On Me barrels along but leaves little impression, while the choppy guitars on Muck and the title track don't really convince.
 
It was hard to identify what Barlow added to Dinosaur Jr. But on this evidence there's definitely something missing here.

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