Dinosaur Jr.

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Cara Totman

Dinosaur Jr.: Lou Barlow, Jay Mascis, Murph.

Dinosaur Jr. epitomizes late 1980s/early 1990s alt guitar rock. After years of lineup changes, the band is back with founding members J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph. The tour in support of the band's latest album, Sweep it into Space, is sweeping through the Midwest before heading to, not space, but Europe in early October.

press release:  Dinosaur Jr. announce their fall North American tour is rescheduled for 2022.

Their latest, Sweep It Into Space, was released April 23nd on Jagjaguwar. Sweep It Into Space was recorded, as usual, at Amherst's Biquiteen. The sessions for began in the late Autumn of 2019 and the only extra musician used this time was Kurt Vile, who co-produced the album. After recording with Kurt got disrupted, J Mascis “ended up just mimicking a few things he'd done. I was listening to a lot of  Thin Lizzy, so I was trying to get some of that dueling twin lead sound. But the recording session was pretty well finished by the time things really hit the fan. When the lockdown happened in March, that meant I was on my own. But it was cool.”  

As is typical, Lou Barlow writes and sings two of the album's dozen tunes (delivering perhaps his finest Dinosaur contribution in “Garden”) and Murph's pure-Flinstonian drumming drives the record like a go cart from Hell. Lou's songs here are as elegant as always. J's tracks flow and flower in the different directions he often follows. Some are guitar howlers, with a string sound midway between Hendrix and Asheton. Some are power ballads, and there are anomalies, like “Take It Back,” which starts with a blue-beat rhythm putting one in mind of Keith Richards' Jamaican explorations (at least for a little bit.)  

But there are very few moments where you wouldn't know you were hearing Dinosaur Jr. in blindfolded needle drop. They have a signature sound as sure as the Stooges or Sonic Youth or Discharge ever did. They continue to expand their personal universe with Sweep It Into Space, without ever losing their central core.