Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com
Showing posts with label Lou Barlow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lou Barlow. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Friday, April 16, 2021
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Friday, August 5, 2016
Thursday, September 12, 2013
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.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Album Review: Dinosaur Jr - Beyond
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.
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.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Album Review: Dinosaur
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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.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Album Review: Dinosaur Jr - Bug
Dinosaur Jr’s third album, Bug, was released in 1989. The album is dominated by so-called slacker
anthem Freak Scene, so called because J Mascis really sounds like he doesn’t
give a damn as he drawls the lyrics over some choice guitar riffs.
The rest of the album is well worth a listen too. Most of the songs are relatively
uncomplicated, based on simple, distorted riffs which either zip along quickly
(They Always Come, Let It Ride) or pound along sluggishly (Yeah We Know, The
Post). Mascis’ ‘singing’ really is
laughably out of tune on tracks like No Bones and Let It Ride, but nonetheless
it works. Pond Song jangles along
pleasantly while Budge takes a leaf out of Sonic Youth’s Teenage Riot. Final track, Don’t is pretty awful,
consisting of Lou Barlow screaming “why don't you like me” over distorted guitar riffs, and it’s
unlistenable.
Although it doesn’t quite hit the heights of You’re Living
All Over Me, it’s well worth checking out.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Album Review: Dinosaur jr. – You’re Living All Over Me
This album was released in 1987, which was not exactly the era of heavy guitars. The album packs considerable wallop and a great guitar sound. It roars out of the blocks with Little Fury Things, which sets the tone for the album. J Mascis plays some great crunching guitar riffs, though his singing (whining) is almost laughably out of tune! Towards the end of the song it becomes drenched in feedback, a trick they repeat on quite a few of these.
The formula just kind of works, Mascis plays heavy, distorted riffs, with a cleaner line accompanying them, and Lou Barlow’s bass bounces along trying to keep up. Sludgefeast is particularly notable, with ten tons of guitar riff providing a superb anthem, though on this one Mascis’ vocals can barely be called singing! Towards the end of the song another almost metallish riff comes in for the end of the song.
The Lung sounds like the Lemonheads might have been listening at the beginning of their career before Evan Dando discovered country. The song plods along nicely before drummer Murph decides it’s not fast enough and speeds things up, and the other instruments kind of shamble up to the same tempo. There’s some lovely guitar work on this one, particularly towards the end.
Tarpit is another very strong song. Murph’s drums sound cavernous at the beginning before the riff properly kicks in and bludgeons the listener into submission (in a good way). Like a lot of tracks here, it’s a basic two chord riff but it sounds enormous. Lose has screaming guitars and screaming vocals, both at breakneck speed.
Poledo is a total misstep, it’s a Lou Barlow track which sounds like a home recording. Mainly acoustic, it’s a mess, the sort of ‘experiment’ that should never see the light of day.
They also do a version of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven, with much heavier guitars and even dodgier vocals. It kind of works, though their treatment of the bridge is almost pure heavy metal, and Cure-heads should probably avoid it!
It’s a great feast of guitars, one to file away with Crazy Horse (especially with Mascis’ whining married to the heavy guitars), the Stooges’ Raw Power and even Sonic Youth.
The formula just kind of works, Mascis plays heavy, distorted riffs, with a cleaner line accompanying them, and Lou Barlow’s bass bounces along trying to keep up. Sludgefeast is particularly notable, with ten tons of guitar riff providing a superb anthem, though on this one Mascis’ vocals can barely be called singing! Towards the end of the song another almost metallish riff comes in for the end of the song.
The Lung sounds like the Lemonheads might have been listening at the beginning of their career before Evan Dando discovered country. The song plods along nicely before drummer Murph decides it’s not fast enough and speeds things up, and the other instruments kind of shamble up to the same tempo. There’s some lovely guitar work on this one, particularly towards the end.
Tarpit is another very strong song. Murph’s drums sound cavernous at the beginning before the riff properly kicks in and bludgeons the listener into submission (in a good way). Like a lot of tracks here, it’s a basic two chord riff but it sounds enormous. Lose has screaming guitars and screaming vocals, both at breakneck speed.
Poledo is a total misstep, it’s a Lou Barlow track which sounds like a home recording. Mainly acoustic, it’s a mess, the sort of ‘experiment’ that should never see the light of day.
They also do a version of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven, with much heavier guitars and even dodgier vocals. It kind of works, though their treatment of the bridge is almost pure heavy metal, and Cure-heads should probably avoid it!
It’s a great feast of guitars, one to file away with Crazy Horse (especially with Mascis’ whining married to the heavy guitars), the Stooges’ Raw Power and even Sonic Youth.
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