J. Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. have created some of my favourite 90s era sonic and songwriting touchpoints. I discovered Dinosaur Jr.'s Green Mind, which came out 25 years ago today, when I was wasting countless hours at the university radio station when I probably should have been studying.
This album marked the band's fourth, their first without Lou Barlow and their first on a major label. It's got some of my favourite Dino Jr. tunes, as highlighted below. The sound of this band, especially J's guitars, are aspirational for me.
You don't come to a J. Mascis show to see a light show or to listen to stories or to see dance moves. You come for guitar. And for the songs. And the guitar. And the songs.
Songs stripped down to their guitar and vocal essential elements. Shreds and wails on the acoustic just like on electric. Guitar pyrotechnics and mastery of the instrument from a pioneer of the alternative rock genre and an influence to countless musicians. We got all of that during J. Mascis' solo acoustic show at Lee's Palace in Toronto on June 3.
At his solo acoustic gigs, Mascis plays acoustic guitar, yes, but he loops rhythm tracks so that he can kick in the distortion and solo to his, and our, heart's content. It's a great combination of traditional singer-songwriter solo-acoustic performance, with the fretboard artistry that only Mascis delivers.
I don't usually mention celebrity sightings at shows, but I spotted Kevin Drew in he crowd. He has played with Mascis on "Backed Out On The..." and I've always heard a Dinosaur Jr. influence on "Cause = Time" from Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It In People.
One day I hope to see Dinosaur Jr. live for the same reasons that Mascis is awesome solo, but with a million watts of distortion and the famous Jazzmaster.
Really nice to hear some of Hüsker Dü's Warehouse: Songs and Stories album between sets, too.
Speaking of sets, here are some of the stand-out tunes from J.'s set.
Opening tune "Listen to Me"
"Little Fury Things" by Dinosaur Jr.
"Ammaring" by J. Mascis and The Fog
"Every Morning"
"Get Me" by Dinosaur Jr.
"Heal the Star"
"Out There" by Dinosaur Jr.
"Stumble"
Many artists are known for specific covers. Mascis is known for his fantastic cover of Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You"
"Not You Again" by Dinosaur Jr.
For the first encore, Mascis performed another of his signature covers, this one of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven". Is it just me or did he not really finish the song?
Mascis left the stage then reemerged for a second encore, this one of Dinosaur Jr.'r "The Wagon". One of my all-time favourite tunes and a fitting end to a great show.
I think it's really cool that J. Mascis/Dinosaur Jr. gets tons of respect. I think he's a great singer, song writer and guitarist and I've been enjoying his heavy music with a pop sensibility, as well as his face melting guitar playing, since the late 80s.
Here's the latest tune from Dinosaur Jr. It's an acoustic cover of the classic Mazzy Star tune "Fade into Me". Beautiful. It comes with Keep's official Dinosaur Jr. shoe, if you're into that sort of thing.
J. Mascis has also teamed up with Skullcandy headphones and you can get a couple of great tunes through the link over on Stereogum. Here's "The Only Other Way".
This clip that shows how Dinosaur Jr can take you away. Kinda like Calgon. Only different. And louder. It's for the song "Pierce The Morning Rain" from 2012's I Bet On Sky.
There are a bunch of cool fan videos over at Stereogum of J. Mascis with legendary folks like Johnny Marr, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Frank Black, Kevin Drew, Tommy Stinson, and Fred Armisen. Tunes include "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" with Johnny Marr (of course) and "The Wagon" with Kevin Drew, who you know is a big J. Mascis fan since the tune "Backed Out On The..." from his 2007 solo album Spirit If... featured J. and since the BSS tune "Cause=Time" sounds like it could be a Dinosaur Jr. track.
J. Mascis, alternative guitar god and singer/guitarist from Dinosaur Jr., is releasing a new project on May 8. It's called Heavy Blanket and is an instrumental power trio album. Here's a teaser video and the announcement from J's web site. The teaser track "Dr. Marten's Blues" has a great groove.
It was the summer of 1984, and a teenage J Mascis was bored. Sure, his band Deep Wound were still playing shows and melting faces. That band would prove to be one of hardcore’s seminal influences, but J didn’t know that then. Disillusioned with the direction that most of his hardcore heroes had taken, he wanted to start something new. He wanted to shed the pretentiousness and elitism that had risen around him – to slow things down and turn the volume way, way up. This new band would influence generations of disenfranchised youth while tipping their hat to their heroes of years past, before punk existed. And so: he needed a band.
He remembered a couple kids from his early high school days – stoner kids he’d always admired for their “who gives a shit” attitude. Those kids, Johnny Pancake and Pete Cougar, had been kicked out of marching band for smoking weed out of a tuba. Way better musicians than the marching band deserved, they’d formed a duo that was all rhythm section – no vocals, no guitar, a sick, punchy brew of Band of Gypsies and Japanese hard psych (Johnny’s uncle was a US Marine stationed on Okinawa in 1973. From his frequent visits to Tokyo, he brought home a killer psych record collection. And a mean dose of the clap). These were the guys he needed. He rounded them up and it soon became obvious that the heavy rhythms they created were the perfect backdrop to young Mascis’ insane, fluid ability on the guitar. The trio came up with six blistering tracks, named themselves Heavy Blanket, and set a date to record.
But then, tragedy struck. Johnny hit his head and nearly drowned while swimming in an old stone quarry in southern Vermont. His recovery was… incomplete. He gave up playing altogether and became something of a recluse, retreating to the relative safety of his grandmother’s basement. Disheartened by Johnny incapacitation, Pete moved out to Ohio to work in his uncle’s second-hand furniture store. He later did a stint in federal prison for repeatedly passing low-denomination counterfeit bills at the local Stop’n’Shop. Mascis went on to form Dinosaur jr, and the rest is history. The boys lost touch, and those blistering tracks were lost to history.
Fast forward to the winter of 2011. While on his semi-annual ski retreat, Mascis runs into an old friend. Johnny had emerged from his grandmother’s basement (having been forced to, once her demise stopped the flow of milk and sandwiches to his underground lair) and taken a job grooming the ski trails with a Snowcat. Convinced his long-ago accident was the handiwork of those schemers in Pearl Jam, Johnny begged J to reform the band. It was the only way to get back at them, he insisted. A quick search of Ohio prison records turned up Pete, living in a halfway house in Columbus. After securing the proper permissions from his parole officer, Pete boarded a Greyhound with the only recording of Heavy Blanket in existence – an old practice cassette. Building off those old tune structures, the boys – now men – have finally succeeded in fulfilling the promise of that long past summer.
The tune "Almost Ready" from Dinosaur Jr.'s most recent album, Farm, came up on the iPod the other day. What a great song. I just love the loud guitars, the raspy, sometimes strained vocals, with the great melodies and hooks. This guy has been making great music for decades and he just keeps on getting better! I love seeing great artists evolve over the years.
The guy behing Dino Jr. - J. Mascis - has recently released an acoustic album called Several Shades of Why. Here are a couple of videos.
