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On the Shelf 175: Dinosaur Jr
Sep. 21st, 2016 08:06 amThere's been a lot of positive buzz around the new Dinosaur Jr album, Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not and the good news is that it's true.
I usually get a weird feeling when indie rock critics agree and then I also agree with the cognoscenti.
Still, it's hard to find a flaw with GGoWYN.
You know the story- improbably Dinosaur Jr works. At this point, we have seen enough bands reunite, and enough of those reunions to work well for at least one album, but even in this modern age, Dinosaur Jr seems especially improbable.
They are now four albums into this phase of their career and there is not a dud in the bunch. On top of that, the lineup still manages to be J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph with no one bailing out to date, despite years of contention.
To me, I feel a little of Where You Been on this one, especially as it seems there is plenty of Mascis guitar go around, and maybe there's a bit more polish as compared to other reunion discs. I can't find a critic who says one way or another on this one, so I may be totally wrong, but that is what I hear.
There is one problem i do have with this disc, and it carries over from the last disc. There's no great singles here. Indeed, for me personally, the songs don't really stick to me. This is less of a slight than I intend. Clearly, this band has that magic that anything they are committing to vinyl is quality. Still, there's no "The Wagon" or "Feel the Pain". There's nothing even half that catchy.
Still, I only mean this as a minor complaint. Like the last album, I suspect that I will keep this in heavy rotation until I don't, then I probably won't pick it up again. Which is still completely fine.
As an aside, Barlow's songs have generally got slighted by the critics. They do expectedly offer a counterbalance to Mascis's guitar and vocals. The Barlow songs on here are strong (as I feel his earlier songs also were) and have generally got a good reception, which is deserved.
I usually get a weird feeling when indie rock critics agree and then I also agree with the cognoscenti.
Still, it's hard to find a flaw with GGoWYN.
You know the story- improbably Dinosaur Jr works. At this point, we have seen enough bands reunite, and enough of those reunions to work well for at least one album, but even in this modern age, Dinosaur Jr seems especially improbable.
They are now four albums into this phase of their career and there is not a dud in the bunch. On top of that, the lineup still manages to be J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph with no one bailing out to date, despite years of contention.
To me, I feel a little of Where You Been on this one, especially as it seems there is plenty of Mascis guitar go around, and maybe there's a bit more polish as compared to other reunion discs. I can't find a critic who says one way or another on this one, so I may be totally wrong, but that is what I hear.
There is one problem i do have with this disc, and it carries over from the last disc. There's no great singles here. Indeed, for me personally, the songs don't really stick to me. This is less of a slight than I intend. Clearly, this band has that magic that anything they are committing to vinyl is quality. Still, there's no "The Wagon" or "Feel the Pain". There's nothing even half that catchy.
Still, I only mean this as a minor complaint. Like the last album, I suspect that I will keep this in heavy rotation until I don't, then I probably won't pick it up again. Which is still completely fine.
As an aside, Barlow's songs have generally got slighted by the critics. They do expectedly offer a counterbalance to Mascis's guitar and vocals. The Barlow songs on here are strong (as I feel his earlier songs also were) and have generally got a good reception, which is deserved.
