J Mascis – What Do We Do Now – Album Review

 Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com 

Heavy Blanket – Moon Is – Album Review

 Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com 

Dinosaur Jr – Vicar St – Live Review – 10/10/22

 Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com 

Freakscene – The Story of Dinosaur Jr – Film Review

 Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com 

Dinosaur Jr – Sweep It Into Space

 Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com 

J Mascis - Elastic Days - Album Review

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2018/10/30/j-mascis-elastic-days-album-review/

Best Albums of 2016 – Killian Laher

Article for www.nomoreworkhorse.com https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2016/12/16/best-albums-of-2016-killian-laher/

Dinosaur Jr. - Vicar Street - Gig Review - 15-11-16

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2016/11/16/dinosaur-jr-vicar-street-gig-review-15-11-16/

Dinosaur Jr – Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not – Album Review

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2016/08/05/dinosaur-jr-give-a-glimpse-of-what-yer-not-album-review/

Album review: J Mascis | Tied To A Star

Review for www.meg.ie

http://www.meg.ie/album-review-j-mascis-tied-to-a-star/

Album Review: Dinosaur Jr - Farm

Dinosaur Jr's 2009 album Farm is very much business as usual.  What sets them apart from other bands is J Mascis' guitar.  The rough-hewn riffs hit that bit harder and the solos really take flight.  Opening one-two Pieces and the bouncy I Want You To Know are perfect examples of this.  The man has the ability to make guitars convey real emotions, the guitars on Plans sound almost wistful.

 

Bassist Lou Barlow pitches in with Your Weather and Imagination Blind, however these and many of the others - Over It, Friends and See You have melodies that aren't really that memorable.  There's No Here is a strong Neil Young & Crazy Horse type thing.  I Don't Wanna Go There is a decent penultimate track, but does it really have to be nearly NINE minutes long?

 

What they do really isn't complex, just heavy-riffing pop tunes groaned along to by J Mascis.  This album is not a must-own Dinosaur Jr album, it's more of a next tier purchase.

Album Review: Dinosaur Jr - Beyond

2007's Beyond was Dinosaur Jr's first album in ten years, but it may as well have been ten months - the material here takes up from where their mid 90s albums left off.  J Mascis is in supreme form on guitar riffs, and he welcomes back estranged original bassist Lou Barlow for the first time in nearly two decades.  The album is full of sun-kissed, blissed-out rockers like Almost Ready and Crumble and is dominated by Mascis' towering guitar, along with some laughably ropy vocals.

Pick Me Up is basically a long lead-in to a hugely satisfying guitar solo, and, so long as you aren't looking for much depth to the lyrics, Barlow's Back To Your Heart is a swaggering stomp of a song.  Mascis and co sound revitalised on some of the heavier tracks like It's Me and Barlow's Lightning Bulb.

The one weak spot is the plodding acoustic strum of I Got Lost.  Here Mascis sings falsetto, and though it's a rare instance of proper 'singing', it doesn't help matters.  Much better in a mellow vein is We're Not Alone, which bobs along amiably, evoking the Lemonheads.  The album is definitely up to scratch with their older work, ushering in a great Dinosaur Jr second act.

Album Review: J Mascis + The Fog - Free So Free

J Mascis' second solo album, released in 2002, doesn't see him break any new ground. Though would you really want him to? Sure, opener Freedom has a slightly funkier strut than usual, but elsewhere brawny riff-rockers like the swaggering Set Us Free (a bit of a theme going on perhaps?) and Bobbin are well up to standard.

Soft acoustics have their place here too, at least for the opening 2 minutes of If That's How It's Gotta Be, before the band drag the track out of its slumber into a satisfying conclusion. Further introspection is evident with the lumbering title track and the paychedelic-tinged Someone Said. Less satisfying are poppy rockers Tell The Truth and Everybody Lets Me Down. J Mascis has always ended his albums well, and here is no different with the blissed out solos of Outside.

So in short: you like Dinosaur Jr? Give this a go.

Album Review: J Mascis + The Fog - More Light

In 2000, J Mascis released what ostensibly was his first solo album but in reality followed on from his Dinosaur Jr work, which saw him progressively take over more and more responsibility for the music. The album features Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard on vocals on a few of the tracks, and also, thrillingly, Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine.

Despite the personnel involved, it's pretty much business as usual for Mascis, from the moment he slams into opener Sameday, which is in the vein of vintage Dinosaur Jr ie heavy riffs and Mascis charmingly half-arsed drawled vocals. Where'd You Go has an almost 70s classic rock riff at its core, while Back Before You Go and All the Girls have a kind of Lemonheads-gone-heavy feel.

The album is not without its fine mellow moments - the swirling keyboards of Waistin', the summery, acoustic picking of Ground Me To You and the blissed-out, what can only be described as 'wibblyness' of Ammaring. Later, Pollard makes his presence on the call-and-response grunge of I'm Not Fine. As for Shields? Most prominent on the title track, the final song on the album. He pours his own particular brand of magic over a complete headrush of a track, equal parts MBV and Primal Scream's Accelerator, and the tracks collapses in a sea of distortion and effects. It's a great way to round off a collection of songs well able to stand alongside Mascis' Dinosaur Jr material.

Album Review: Dinosaur Jr - Hand It Over

Hand It Over is Dinosaur Jr's seventh album. It came out in 1997, three years after Without A Sound. J Mascis' trademark groan is replaced by an attempt at proper singing on opening track I Don't Think, but thankfully his guitar playing remains in place. That's more than can be said on other tracks. A jangly guitar on Never Bought It is obscured by what appears to be a flute, while I'm Insane is rendered unlistenable by a perky set of horns.

Elsewhere, Can't We Move This has a noisy guitar part and Screaming Trees style melody, while I defy anyone to listen to the entire eight minutes of Alone. The second half of the album picks things up, Sure Not Over You and Mick have a relaxed groove, while I Know Yer Insane (some sort of theme?) sees Mascis try some Johnny Marr-isms on guitar and Gettin' Rough features over-perky banjo.

But I can't imagine this is any Dinosaur Jr fan's favourite album.

Album Review: Dinosaur Jr – Without A Sound

Dinosaur Jr’s sixth album released in 1994 opens with the sound of a cork being pulled out of a bottle before opening track Feel The Pain starts.  In common with much of the rest of the material, J Mascis is in laid-back mode, this track drifts along nicely till the chorus, where all of a sudden it’s as if somebody lit a match under it and the track bursts into life.

As much as any of their other albums, this one is about Mascis and his guitar(s).  He is in wistful, dewy-eyed form, I Don’t Think So has the warm, fuzzy glow of the Lemonheads, while the acoustic Outta Hand is practically horizontal.

Elsewhere, Yeah Right and Get Out Of This are like prime slices of 70s riffing, while Grab It is the heaviest thing here, all squalling guitars.  The album is really like pop music played by heavy guitars (especially On The Brink), tracks like Even You and Mind Slow accompany Mascis’ croak with a pleasing early 90s attitude.

Least worst 20 albums of 2012

No point in waiting any longer.  I’ve decided to do a top 20 this year of the least worst albums of 2012:

20 Lee Ranaldo – Between the Times and the Tides

19 Paul Buchanan – Mid Air

http://www.meg.ie/paul-buchanan-mid-air/
 

18 I Like Trains – The Shallows

http://www.meg.ie/i-like-trains-the-shallows/
 

17 Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas

http://www.meg.ie/leonard-cohen-old-ideas/

16 Peter Broderick – www.itstartshear.com

http://www.meg.ie/peter-broderick-httpwww-itstartshear-com/

15 Earth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II

http://www.meg.ie/earth-angels-of-darkness-demons-of-light-ii/ 

14 Bob Mould – Silver Age

http://www.meg.ie/bob-mould-silver-age/

13 The Soulsavers – The Light, The Dead See

http://www.meg.ie/the-soulsavers-the-light-and-the-dead-see/

12 Seti the First – Melting Cavalry

http://www.meg.ie/seti-the-first-melting-cavalry/

11 Tindersticks – The Something Rain

http://www.meg.ie/tindersticks-the-something-rain/

10 RM Hubbert – Thirteen Lost & Found

Scotland’s most accomplished guitarist turns in a stellar follow up to First & Last.

http://www.meg.ie/rm-hubbert-thirteen-lost-found/

9 Dinosaur Jr – I Bet On Sky

J Mascis can still churn out the heavy riffs like nobody else.

http://www.meg.ie/dinosaur-jr-i-bet-on-sky/ 

8 Sun Kil Moon – Among the Leaves

A Mark Kozelek private joke?  Possibly.  He’s still a damn good guitarist.

http://www.meg.ie/sun-kil-moon-among-the-leaves/

7 Dirty Three – Toward the Low Sun

Epic comeback album from the Aussie rockers.

http://www.meg.ie/dirty-three-toward-the-low-sun/ 

6 Dakota Suite – An Almost Silent Life

A more varied release than usual for Dakota Suite…

http://www.meg.ie/dakota-suite-an-almost-silent-life/

5 Mark Eitzel – Don’t Be A Stranger

This album sounds like nothing special at first, but it’s quite an addictive collection of songs, from the most enjoyable whiner in music today.

4 Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Psychedelic Pill

In Driftin’ Back this album has one of the tracks of the year and definitely the longest.

http://www.meg.ie/neil-young-crazy-horse-%e2%80%93-psychedelic-pill/

3 Mark Lanegan Band – Blues Funeral

A strong collection of songs from the uber-serious Lanegan.

http://www.meg.ie/mark-lanegan-band-blues-funeral/

 

2 Caught In The Wake Forever – Against A Simple Wooden Cross

Not an easy listen.  But what an album.  Debut album of the year.

http://www.meg.ie/caught-in-the-wake-forever-against-a-simple-wooden-cross/

 

1 The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know

This should have been a wrong move, but the electronic-tinged material is brilliantly cold.  Now if they could just find directions to Ireland…

http://www.meg.ie/the-twilight-sad-no-one-can-ever-know/

Album Review: Dinosaur Jr – Where You Been

By 1993, J Mascis had recruited Mike Johnson, and after the somewhat underwhelming Green Mind, Mascis took centre stage to make what was a far more enjoyable album.

 

It opens with the riff-heaven of Out There, a real guitar hero track superior to anything on Green Mind.  Mascis’ vocals are still a real strain as he croaks “I know you’re oouuuttt theerrre” but it’s really about his guitar playing, along with Murph’s fine drumming.  The bouncy, almost funky Start Choppin follows, with more powerful guitar and the introduction of Mascis’ goofy falsetto.

 

Many of the tracks, What Else Is New, Get Me and Drawerings are showcases for J Mascis’ guitar soloing, straying closer and closer into ‘classic rock’ territory.  A couple of mellower moments produce mixed results.  Mascis’ falsetto on Not The Same is too distracting for the track to work.  Later, Goin’ Home is more relaxed, carried by a very pleasant organ.  Punkier moments like On The Way and Hide still have their place also, giving the album a fairly diverse sound.  Not quite an essential Dinosaur Jr album, but a very enjoyable one.

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.

Album Review: Dinosaur

Dinosaur (they had yet to add the jr then) released their self-titled debut in 1985.  It’s pretty different to the rest of their albums as there are a whole load of different styles on this album.  J Mascis had yet to truly find his guitar sound, and it makes for a very interesting listen.  A couple of the tracks sound a little like the Cure, especially the Lou Barlow sung Forget the Swan which perfectly distils the essence of the Cure’s Fire In Cairo.

Cats In A Bowl barrels along the lines of label mates the Meat Puppets.  The Leper, Pointless and Repulsion are rockier, closer to the sound they became famous for.  Does It Float marries a load of different styles in the one song, starting out like the Cure’s Primary and morphing into a Meat Puppets chugger with shades of REM before lurching into screaming hardcore all in the one song.

Severed Lips is the most relaxed track here, an almost gentle strum with Mascis whining “I won’t cry if you won’t”.  The track is notable for one of the earliest of Mascis’ glorious guitar solos.  Final track Quest has a similar feel.  On the other extreme Mountain Man is speed metal, almost pure Creeping Death era Metallica even down to Barlow’s James Hetfield style vocals!

It’s a strange listen as the songs don’t hang together particularly well but it’s kind of fascinating to hear the band try out different styles.