First Blush: Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

What was originally just the experiment of "getting the band back together" for Dinosaur Jr. soon became the restart of the group's career and a new album. Lead singer/songwriter/guitarist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph are apparently getting along like peas and carrots these days, and a tour is imminent. We did a First Blush on 2007's Beyond the day it came out, and generally liked it a lot before Serge brought us back down to earth with some poignant comments. This comes a few weeks late after release thanks to the whole living in Argentina thing, but here's the take on their latest effort, Farm. Anyway, enough of my yakkin, let's boogie!

Track 1 - Pieces
A quick pop from Murph brings us to some heavy strumming and we're on our way. The production seems too slick. Vocals feature something about "the pieces of our love" repeated many times. It's a low-intensity track which seems like more of a vehicle for some decent J Mascis guitar solos. I'm intentionally avoiding the word "boring." Not a bombastic opener.

Track 2 - I Want You To Know
Really fuzzy guitars, even for these guys. It's like they hired the guitarist from The Black Keys for overdubs. There's much more of a groove now, and at the 1:30 mark, the pace picks up a bit. This could be a really fun one live. It's more reminiscent of the Where You been era that didn't feature Barlow, but with some of his influence mixed in just a bit."Hey I want you to know, stay with me, I can't let it go. Hey, you put it in my head, stay and see, you know what you said." This is not J's most shimmering lyrical moment.

Track 3 - Ocean In The Way
On the one! We get a great downbeat opening with all instruments at once. Then J starts singing in a slow honky tonk. Obviously, Dino is always trying to push the boundaries of feedback fuzz, but right now this is not sounding very clear for me. I heard rumors that some of the CDs pressed for this release had some "sound issues", and right now I'm hoping that I didn't get a lemon. Hopefully it's just lousy headphones, though I didn't know these were lousy. The song breaks down at 2:16, a chance to catch our breath. J croons, "Come on down," but not at all like he did in Puke + Cry. There aren't a lot of hooks in this track, but I've enjoyed the mellow ride.

Track 4 - Plans
Really digging this one, and I don't even have much to say about it. It's like a classic Dino track, each guy doing his thing with a steady beat behind it all. It's gone on for over five minutes now and I have nothing new to say. Just that I'm enjoying it. I don't even know what this song's about.

Track 5 - Your Weather
We get our first Lou Barlow track, and it's got some punchiness to it. This is the first one we've heard that actually sounds "new." It started a bit dark, but by the 1:20 mark it's building to something else. "If it's rainin on your island, how am I deciding, why can't you?" Not sure if I heard that right, or if it means anything at all. Best track on the album so far.

Track 6 - Over It
J is wanking like crazy! Please read that in the cleanest possible interpretation. But this again just feels like he's going through the motions. Things get skippy around the 2:00 mark, but then we settle back in 30 seconds later. J's vocals sound sleepy. I guess I'm looking for something extra and just not getting it so far.

Track 7 - Friends
This is as Thin Lizzy as Dino can get. Murph is busy, but the snare is definitely popping on every 2 and 4. There's a certain singalong aspect to this tune, though it's in J's high, whiny octave. This is Rock and Roll and not much else. "Even if you don't see me, I promise I'll be here. I wanted you to lose control, I wanted to reheal my soul, and nothing seemed that strange, and my goal was in range." Man, these are bad lyrics. What happened? J used to be able to turn something simple and poignant at the same time. Now he's throwing out utilitary rhymes like the dude who wrote Miss Saigon. Great solo near the tail end of this one, though.

Track 8 - Said The People
The second-longest track on the album starts off with some promising darkness. It feels heavy in an intense way. "Of all the people to let me down, Of all the people while I'm out. Saaaaave me." This is the first track on the album where J acts like he cares what he's singing about. And it makes a difference. With a different band, this song could be a cheesy stadium rocker, complete with lighters hoisted aloft. Here it feels more meaningful. Halfway through, we hear sounds reminiscent of "Not the Same." They are welcome. There's a lot going on here (finally), and this track is definitely a keeper.

Track 9 - There's No Here
A wild solo can barely be heard over the driving guitar and drums. And then it goes on like that.

Track 10 - See You
This track is called "See You" and right now sounds almost exactly like "What else is new" which begins with the lyric "I'd like to see you." I'm not complaining, just noting. Kind of a sweet, simple one that finally matches J's laidback approach to vocals on this album. This is a nice song. Nice. Now we come near the end and it kicks just a bit. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Track 11 - I Don't Wanna Go There
A thick sheen of rawk greets the opening of the last J Mascis track on the album. "You're the one who told me what to say. Would you come and hold me? Would you come and show me right away?" Again, these lyrics are simply vague. I don't think anyone would be able to connect to them. But this is the longest tune on the album, and they're making the most of it. Murph is filling in a lot of sound around what I can only imagine is three or four overdubs of guitars. I was raelly bored at first, but this album is making a comeback! J takes the last four minutes to completely shred his guitar. I am thankful for the shredding.

Track 12 - Imagination Blind
The other Barlow track sounds straight outta 1999 or so. Or at least whatever the hell I was listening to in 1999. It's got a decent fuzz to it, but really just passing time until the album ends. Which is soon!

Man, at first I was really, really worried. I thought this whole thing was giong to fall flat. But then things started to pick up at least a little. It seems clear that as a songwriter J Mascis is past his prime, but he can still play like dynamite, which is probably the most important thing. This certainly doesn't pass Beyond, and I don't think it will hold up in comparison to their heyday output, but on the whole, it is at least a decent record, and I look forward to getting to know it better.

Pitchfork Sunday

Another overnight downpour led to more mud, but also more solutions by the festival workers. Plywood boards covered the swampiest areas and more wood chips were laid in places of high traffic. I can not stress enough how smoothly they handled this. Ohio's Times New Viking, the only band on the Pitchfork lineup named for a font, kicked things off with a set more based on fun and enthusiasm than beautiful chords. After claiming that "this song is not about drugs" they went into a dissonant but catchy song with a chorus that went "I need more money 'cause I need more drugs." This band really can't sing very well, and would probably be served very well by adding a bassist, but it really didn't matter that much. The peak of their set came with a song whose chorus was, "I don't want to die in the city alone." People were really getting into them at this point. After their half-hour ended, it was probably enough, especially since most of their songs were only two minutes each. But a great way to start off the day.
I can't say the same for the Dirty Projectors. I found their music intolerable, and I wasn't even anywhere near the stage. If you took Peter Cetera's worst outputs, dumbed them down, and added a lot of warbling, you'd get pretty close. Ugh. Please, let's move ahead before I get nasty. Um, nastier.

A evidenced by the packed crowd, a lot of people seemed pretty pumped to hear Boris. But none of us knew what to expect. With a gong behind him at the ready, drummer Atsuo was clearly the centerpiece of the group. Not only that, he was wearing an unbuttoned silk white shirt and white gloves. At the sound of the gong and the initialization of the smoke machine, the band charged into their punk/metal riffing. Their sound was loud and rumbly, a winning combination. While lead singer Takeshi mumbled through his long hair, Atsuo punctuated his drumming with a series of "Woooh!"s and the occasional "1-2-3-4!" He made wild eye contact with the crowd and frequently stood up with his drumstick raised above his head. He's the closest thing I've ever seen to Iggy Pop incarnated as a drummer.The songs were more diverse than you'd expect, and each one ripped straight into the next one, but I don't know how well the band speaks English, so it's not like they could have engaged in banter even if they wanted to. I'm not sure how you say "Wooh!" in Japanese, but my guess is it's a universal word. After just a half-hour into their alloted one hour slot, clearly something had gone wrong. Some portion of the sound dropped out (though it was still loud as hell), and Atsuo stood up, shrugged and casually tossed his drumsticks aside. He hit the gong, got on the mic and said with a thick accent, "Heh, heh, not enough electric power." Then, with a big grin, he toppled his own drum kit in a sprint to the area where the moshing had been most fierce for a stage dive. People were raving about this set all day, and even though it was cut short, it was a very full half-hour. See Boris if you get the chance.
HEALTH is a wild band, playing their brand of largely vocals free rock with abandon. Speaking of their brand, it ain't pop. I kind of dug their grating approach even though it clearly was nails on the chalkboard to the rest of my friends. My big question about them, they play like this all means something important, but how can we possibly tell. I endured the complaints and while I'm not about to go out and buy their record, I won't avoid them. Was that the biggest backhanded compliment of the day or what?
Looking like a cross between Omar Sharif and Sinbad on acid, King Kahn led his band with fire. The band didn't sound great. There was far too much bass, and Kahn's voice was breaking from the beginning of the set. But it was fun as hell even if the music left much to be desired. After urging the audience to "Sing from your ovaries!" and to "toss some garbage in the air - come on, throw garbage!" he stripped down to his skivvies and continued through what everyone in attendance considered a fantastic set. Unfortunately, the balance stage was running late all day and I had to go because...

I wasn't about to miss whatever Les Savy Fav would do on the Connector Stage. They started a few minutes early, sending people running to that end of the field. Looking like a deranged junior high science teacher (is that redundant?), frontman Tim Harrington began wearing a gaudy tie-dyed t-shirt and shiny red leggings that only covered one leg. When they quickly got to their recent single, Patty Lee, the crowd up front moshed gleefully. Harrington then played with rubber surgical gloves and said hello to Prince "Hi little guy..." He kept asking his bandmates which song was next to which he'd say "Oh, I love this song. Oh. Mmmm." His delivery in these moments reminded me a lot of Mitch Fatel, except he was struggling to make much sense most of the time. I suppose that's part of the act. Then, wearing a Sherlock Holmes getup, he rode one of the black garbage receptacles into the audience. A bit later, wearing nothing but his leggings, he was covered in mud. All the while, his band played pretty furiously behind him. I didn't know how to make any sense of it all, and on top of it, fatigue was really setting in for me. After two and a half days, I was running out of gas and sat down to watch the second half of their set on the monitors with my umbrella up to shade me from the midday sun.
Lucky for me, they were serving Sparks. I'd never tried this manufactured concoction in a can before, but it's some ingenious combination of sugar, alcohol, and caffeine (among other uppers). After downing a Sparks Plus (less sugar, more booze), I got a bit spastic and found myself talking too fast. A bit cornholio if you will. I don't drink much caffeine and for the first hour it was a bit uncomfortable. I demanded that my friends forbid me from having another, even though I had mighty cravings.

M. Ward played a more rockin' set than I anticipated. I didn't pay close attention (partly because I was friggin' high), but he sounded good.

Spiritualized came out humming with two female backup singers doing a lot to round out the sound. With the drums really movin', and the organ jacked way up, their first song broke down into a beautiful sonic disaster. From there, they went into an amazing version of "Shine a Light." Whatever issues with sound may have been afoot last year obviously not an issue this time around (bookended perfectly by Mission of Burma's opening set and this one). The crowd was totally attentive for the quieter segments, and heads were bobbing and banging for the more intense parts. There were none of the Les Savy Fav antics here. In fact, Jason Pierce didn't utter one word throughout the set, not even a "thankyou" at the end. Perhaps the Sparks played a role, but I found myself feeling elated throughout their performance. On "Come Together," the bass, organ, drums and vocals all hit high points, each doing their own thing, but building the sound together. This crisp performance was pretty much as good as someone can play at a festival. It was overpowering.

Of course, ready to be overpowering in their own way, Dinosaur Jr's set was one of the most anticipated of the weekend (at least for me). The crowd in front of the stage was evenly mixed between die-hards and people there to check out these legends of indie rawk. When the guy introducing the band thanked sponsor eMusic, a dude to the left of me yelled "Buy records!" Later, he called out "Bubble and Scrape!", the name of the Sebadoh album played on Friday night (Dino bassist Lou Barlow is in Sebadoh as well). Then the guy left the performance halfway through. I guess he was on both sides of the fence

With three stacks of amps behind him, J Mascis set about to shredding and wailing with his guitar in the way that only he can. Last time I saw them, I commented on his gigantic hands and theorized that it helps him make these solos look effortless. The audience response to his riffing was pure adoration. In previous performances, I never noticed what a strong drummer Murph was. Either the mix was different, or I was paying more attention, or he had a really strong day. No matter the reason, I couldn't help but note how powerful and energetic he was. On the right side of the stage, strumming his brains out, Barlow seemed to be having a great time throughout the set. The vocals were totally buried and nearly inaudible. One can only assume this was intentional, and not really a problem anyway. You don't go to a Dino show for the vocals. You go for the wall of sound, which was amply available. The only complaint to be had about the set was that in between each song, there was a lot of random dithering and tuning, but this is nothing new for the band. At one of their own shows it's not as big a deal, but with the festival time limit, it's costing us rawk... The high point for crowd energy was definitely Feel the Pain, which was a surprise to me. Maybe it was a bigger hit than I realized. On the whole, the crowd was a bit droopy. This was nearing the end of three long days. Perhaps they all should have downed a Sparks... Dino came through with a blistering set, and I was just super-geeked that they played "Freak Scene" as were a lot of the other Dino die-hards.
Dinosaur Jr. Pitchfork Setlist:
Been There All The Time
Back To Your Heart
Little Furry Things
Out There
Feel The Pain
Pick Me Up
The Wagon
Forget The Swan
Freak Scene
Sludgefeast (encore)

Spoon
I gotta be honest, they sounded great. But unfortunately after the last two acts, their set came off pretty weak and flat. I'm not sure what they could have done after the rich waves of sound from Spiritualized and overpowering riffs from Dino, so it's not really their fault or anything. The vocals sounded great and they played most of their hits. People were dancing all across Union Park even though they were tired. It was a nice way to end the weekend.

Aside from Friday, I didn't have very high hopes for this particular Pitchfork. But I came away elated, and not just from the caffeinated alcohol. The weather cooperated for the most part, and the organizers handled the rest. There was great food, and they took care of the mud better than we had any right to expect. The folks at Pitchfork really know how to put together a lineup, too. There are always some bands that you've never heard of before that truly impress, and there are always a few old favorites you always feel blessed to see, even if it's for a shorter set. Hell, three days of even mediocre music is going to get me pumped. At the end of it all, I was exhausted, but wholly content. I kind of felt like these people:
See you next year!

Jim Derogatis' Review
Greg Kot's Review
Muzzle of Bees Review; and here
Stereogum Review, and here
Live Music Blog Review

Full Immersion: First Blush Roundup Vol 3

Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
I pretty much thought... that this album was a near seamless blend of what had always made Dinosaur work. And I called you a slacker. Sorry about that. You're not a slacker. Just a little lazy.

First Blush is cool because... "this is a classic Dino track. Stringy-haired gentleman across this land are bobbing their heads back and forth as we speak." Just a really heartening image in my opinion.

I'm obviously a genius because I said... "'Think about the future, let the past unwind,' which I guess kind of explains how we got to this point." I thought that was a pretty nice get on the fly and still rather profound in retrospect.

I'm obviously an an idiot because I said... "Verrry Thunderkiss ’65! (chun-chun-chugga-cha-chun-chun-chugga)" Really, that's not so idiotic, but it's the best example I could find. I was way on point throughout this review, if I do say so myself. OK, now I've proven my idiocy, right?
With the benefit of greater experience with the album, I now say... that I can't tell the difference between this latest Dinosaur Jr. release and everything they've done previously. And that's a good thing in this case. As I mentioned in the review, it's often difficult to keep Dino's song names straight. And now when I hear songs from this album, I have to think for a second about which release they come from. It's one of the band's strongest outputs, and the songs played great live as well. I can't wait for the next one.

Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist

I pretty much thought... that there were some positive aspects, but overall the album seemed a bit too homogeneous and lacked the substance and flair of the Pumpkins' greater achievements.

First Blush is cool because... of the free, Best Buy bonus track, I said, "So far this is like getting free fat on your steak."

I'm obviously a genius because I said... "I am getting concerned about the album just being hair metal at this point."
I'm obviously an an idiot because I said... "'Yes, Lord, I’m sinkin’.' I can’t recall a previous God reference in a SP song. Seems out of character for Corgan. Like he doesn’t mean it." I'm pretty certain that statement is not true. I mean, "I am One" was all about the Holy Trinity, right?
With the benefit of greater experience with the album, I now say... it's a near miss. Unfortunately, that what's missing is crucial makes it a pretty lousy album overall. Honestly, I admire what Corgan was going for. Nobody really rocks anymore except for bands like Slipknot who don't really mean it, and they approached these songs with some serious gusto. But the whole thing remains very lacking. I think I hit the nail on the head in the initial review when I said, "I wonder if they even had a chance to work through these songs before making the album. Usually bands can try things out in front of audiences first." And also when I said, "I can’t see myself slogging through this album over and over again." Perhaps they've improved the songs by working them out in their live set by now. There was a ton of potential in their approach. It was just errant potential. And all the self-congratulatory attitude in the liner notes aren't going to do much to endear people to the band. I still believe the Smashing Pumpkins may have one last great album in them. But this definitely wasn't it. I haven't listened to it all that much since it came out.

Interpol - Our Love to Admire

I pretty much thought... that the band was forging new ground and had come up with a handful of compelling and unique songs amidst some less interesting ones.

First Blush is cool because... "Now the vocals are louder, but so is everything else and I can’t make anything out except an accentuated 'fucking'."

I'm obviously a genius because I said... of All Fired Up, "2:00 – This is somehow lighter and heavier than a usual Interpol track at the same time. Like it’s dense and agile at the same time. Does that make any sense? 2:38 – “I’ve got this soul. It’s all fired up!” See what I mean? Heavy and light?"
I'm obviously an an idiot because I said... "Almost kind of poppy. I don’t really mean that. I don’t know what I mean. But this track has a different feel than any Interpol song I’ve heard before. But it’s still distinctly them."
With the benefit of greater experience with the album, I now say... that it's a fine release, but not an all-time classic. I spun the hell out of it last summer leading up to Lollapalooza and thoroughly enjoyed it at the time, but my interest has waned a bit. I feel like this album came out three years ago. Perhaps that is because it fails to differentiate itself from anything Interpol's done before. As a friend of mine said recently, "Interpol made a great album, and then they made it again two more times." Above, I praise Dinosaur Jr. for making an album that fits in the greater scheme of their catalogue. So is this hypocritical for me? Not really because if this premise is true, Interpol doesn't really have a catalogue. Anyway, I still think it's a solid release, but it had about a four month shelf-life before it receded to the background of my CD collection. Or maybe it is forever tarnished by the fisticuffs during their Lolla set. Still, it's definitely a solid release, even if there's no track as gripping as "Evil" or "NYC."

Random Rules #1

Today we are ripping off the AV Club in the hopes that something interesting will come of it. I’m putting my entire music library on shuffle and seeing what turns up. The AV Club’s version is slightly different in that they do this with a celebrity and only use an I-pod, not an entire library. The other catch is that my writing time will be limited by the length of the song. So if One Minute of Silence comes on, expect only so much witty repartee. If this works out well, I’ll try it again sometime, but hopefully will have figured out a way to stream the songs so you can listen along. For now, we’re keeping it simple. So without further ado, let’s see what turns up:

Codeine – Gravel Bed Are these guys still around? There was a time when I played the bejesus out of this album (Frigid Stars LP). I think I was about 17 when I snagged a used copy at Dr. Wax records in Evanston. It’s a slow droner – much like everything Codeine’s ever released. I picked up some of their other works later in life and found them completely uncompelling. So either they’re not as good as this album, or I just outgrew this stuff. It sounds pretty darn good right now, though. I mean, you’d have to be in the right mood. Like after someone dumps you or you find out your dog died. I might have to revisit these guys. I always was more attracted to the downer shoegazer stuff than My Bloody Valentine (don’t try to tell me that’s depressing – not compared to this!).

Dinosaur Jr. – Back to Your Heart I was wondering if we’d get something current, and I saw these guys play this song two nights ago! I don’t really know why they gave Lou Barlow any songs. I mean, it’s the nice thing to do and all, but it doesn’t sound like Dinosaur Jr. This was pretty decent live, but not as moving as most of the others. However, J did get more aggressive with his guitar on it than on the album version. Plus, Fatso hadn’t gotten out of control yet. Well he had – this was right after he nearly clobbered the waitress, but it hadn’t started to affect everyone in attendance. This comes off as a blues jam which is not what Dino’s all about. A decent tune, but I don’t think it’ll end up on a greatest hits CD. If they didn’t want to throw Lou a bone, I don’t know that it would make it into the live show.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Special Secret Song Inside Um, er, this song is about partying. Partying on someone else. Partying on a specific place on someone else. A female someone else. I totally thought this song was just a joke when I first heard it, but as I got older, I realized that this request comes from the most earnest of feelings. They played it at Lollapalooza in 1992. But I don’t think they were singing directly to me... I wasn't exactly moved by it. This isn’t one of their best songs or anything, but when I was 16, I found it to be bold and somewhat important since a somewhat major artist decided to release it. I liked to party. I would have liked to party in the same place that Anthony Kiedis wanted to. But that would have to wait a loooong time…

Pond – Greyhound Speaking of waiting a long time. I eschewed my senior prom in order to catch a rawk show. Or rather my senior prom eschewed me. Either way, I went to check out Pond, Poster Children, and The Screaming Trees. That was the first I’d heard Pond's music, but they stole the show. I really wish this band was still around. Their last release (Rock Collection – where this track can be found) is an extremely unique album that I have convinced many others to cherish over the years. I highly recommend checking them out, but it’s not like they’re going to tour or anything. There was a night in college they played at the Blind Pig, but it was frigid and icy. Despite aggressive pleading, I couldn’t get anyone to traipse over there with me. I should have just gone alone. Had I known the band was soon to break up, nothing could have stopped me.

White Zombie – Thunder Kiss ’65 I discussed moshing last week. White Zombie at the Vic was probably the last great mosh pit bestowed on me. I knew about half the songs on La Sexorcisto going into the show, but this was one that I had not heard. When they played it live, it was clear that it was an amazing song, my favorite of the night. This was way before Beavis and Butthead made it a smash hit. Yeah, this song is incredible. I can see why Rob Zombie switched to making movies. He’s not going to top this. On stage, Sean Yseult looked hot as hell. Granted, I was 17 and that was before I’d heard her speaking voice (extremely mannish). I thought I had a shot at her, though. Sadly, I wasn’t invited backstage for a “Special Secret Song Inside”.

Well that was kind of fun. If anyone knows how to add streaming audio, let me know and I’ll try to get these songs up there. Go buy Rock Collection! I’m sure it’s available at your local used CD store for like nine bucks.

Dinosaur Jr. w/ Awesome Color @ The Abbey Pub

J Mascis is inhuman. He is able to play his guitar at a level beyond anything I’ve heard from anyone else. The amazing thing about it how each one of those riffs and fits perfectly within the song. If you’re not paying attention to him, you wouldn’t notice that it’s a guitar solo. But he’s amazing. His hands are gigantic, which perhaps is why he’s able to effortlessly pump out these solos. Of course, J carries a mellow demeanor at all times, whether he’s wailing on his guitar, singing with eyes closed, or making fun of the audience. More on that in a minute. As expected, the show was absolutely loud as hell. A number of people who were standing close to the stage had to move back because they were not wearing earplugs. Even with plugs in for the entire time, my ears were ringing afterwards. Of all the bands I’ve seen, only Pinebender beats them in terms of volume. It’s pretty clear that even though this is the “reunion” of Dinosaur Jr., this is still J’s band. I spent a lot of time casually observing the roles and personalities within the group. Not only does J ignore the audience as he’s playing, he doesn’t acknowledge Murph or Lou, either. Murph seems to be in touch with what Lou is doing to a certain degree and will glance at the audience on occasion, but he generally keeps to himself as well. Lou, however, spends much of the show either watching J for subtle cues or checking out what’s going on in front of the stage. He gave a few smirks at times if he saw something amusing, and definitely seems to garner a feel for what the audience reaction is. For all the animosity that went down when the band originally kicked him out, he seems to have a really good time up there. Perhaps that’s part of getting older.Even though they have put out eight albums, I didn’t remember quite how robust their catalogue is. Nearly every release has superb tracks that could be played at any show. In fact, they could have played a 1.5 hour set with an entirely different set of songs, and I don’t think anyone would have come away disappointed. At Lollapalooza two summers ago, they didn’t play any songs from the sans Lou Barlow era. I figured that would be the case again, but we were treated to a couple. Out There was the night’s high point – it seemed the entire crowd lost control at least a little bit. Some bands go for verbal banter between songs, but generally J would play a little ditty as the rest of the band would ready themselves for the next track. Again, he’s very laid back and unassuming. But it was an incredibly impressive performance. If you get the chance to see J perform, go do it. Just remember the earplugs.There were some extremely bad elements in the audience. We were standing close to the stage, so perhaps farther back there were no issues, but near us, there were all kinds of problems. One man decided he was going to try to start hisself a mosh pit. Last week I defended moshing, but this was not appropriate. The dude was going around the crowd punching and hitting people. Some gave him dirty looks. Others punched back, but it was clear that no one was enjoying it. However, he only tried this for one song. Other people managed to disrupt the entire concert. Immediately before the band took the stage, a guy who had to be roughly 280 pounds and his also-not-lean girlfriend decided they would trudge up near the front of the audience. If you weigh 280 pounds and you want to be close to the stage, you should get your ass up there more than five minutes before the headlining act. The large couple proceeded to fight with one another for the entire first song. His next move was to get in an altercation with the waitress, taking her tray and looking every bit like he was going to smash it over her head. After the second song, he and another man who earlier identified himself to me as “Moose” unrelentingly chanted that they wanted to hear “Chunks”. Lou Barlow actually picked up his setlist and showed them that it would be the last song of the night. I have never seen a band do this before. But they really did everyone a favor. Then an overly patient gentleman took the time to explain to Fatso what had just happened and that they would indeed play Chunks and it would be the last song of the night. Then he explained it two more times and the guy finally understood. Fatso and Moose proceeded to shove people who were at the front of the stage back so they could have that position. I was shocked a fight did not break out. Had they tried that with me, I would have gladly gotten myself tossed punching each of them in the face. Then Fatso purchased a Miller Lite and insisted on giving it to the band. J said, “I don’t drink. Murph will drink it.” Murph and Lou both declined. So now this man had not only ruined the show for those around him, but bothered the band and wasted the time of everyone in attendance. At least Fatso got a reaction. At some point in the night, every member of the "reunited original lineup of Dinosaur Jr." shook their head at him with disdain and pity. He can tell his grandkids about it if his obese girlfriend hasn’t dumped him. Finally, when the band was playing their last song of the night, the aforementioned Chunks, Moose decided to climb up on stage and sing with the band. It looked like he was going to get a face full of Barlow’s bass, but a bouncer got up and dragged him offstage in a couple seconds. Fatso tried three times to climb up on the 2.5 foot stage, but failed to get his girth over the ledge every time.

Sorry to go on and on about this, but these dudes were a real problem. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought so. I’m just glad they didn’t touch me because I’m sure I would have gotten physically aggressive. Perhaps they were picking their battles. I was working on a posting about “the ten most annoying people to be near you at a show”, but Fatso blew away anything I had experienced before. Based on all the things he did, he could fill spots 1-5, 7, 9, and 10.

Opener Awesome Color started off pretty well, with pounding drums and some impressive guitar thumping. However, each of their songs was about four minutes too long. They played nearly an hour, but only six songs. There was a ton of onstage banter which, after a point, didn’t go over very well. I likened their performance to a Monster Truck Rally. Big and aggressive and bulky – fun for about ten or fifteen minutes, but then all the cars have already been crushed and there’s not much else to do. Maybe they should change their name to Bigfoot. But look! Bassist Derek Stanton wore a shirt that (thanks to a perfectly positioned strap) says OWR. He’s my new OWR mascot, folks. Please revere him appropriately…
Finally, a gigantic thanks to my friends EZ and Sergio Da Ho for hooking me up with tickets.

Setlist:
Almost Ready
Budge
Back to Your Heart
In a Jar
Been There All the Time (not totally sure about this one)
Pick Me Up
Out There
This is All I Came to Do
Feel the Pain
Little Furry Things
Lung
Gargoyle
Bulbs of Passion
Freak Scene
Chunks

More photos:

First Blush: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond

I envisioned these First Blushes as something that would come along once every two months or so. Little did I know that so many of my favorite established artists would be releasing new material this spring. This marks the eighth album to be reviewed here in this manner. Color me surprised. It’s also the last one for a while (unless there’s some upcoming album I’m unaware of). So if you feel like this place has been heavy on the blush (they call it rouge in France, you know), no need to complain - at least until the Interpol album comes out on July 10.

Dinosaur Jr. had been around from the mid 80s through the late 90s, but “being around” meant different things at different times. They began as a trio with J Mascis on guitar and lead vocals, Lou Barlow on bass and sometimes vocals, and Murph on drums. With thunderously crunchy guitar licks and mournful vocals, the band developed a wide and devoted cult following. By the late 80s, Barlow and Masics were not coexisting well, resulting in Mascis “breaking up” the band in 1989. At least that’s what he told Barlow. The next day, the band “re-formed” without its original bassist. Barlow went on to form Sebadoh and Folk Implosion, while Mascis recorded the majority of bass parts from that point on. Dino continued to gain in popularity, peaking in 1993 with their album, Where You Been. Mascis kicked Murph out before the next release, choosing to record the albums all by his lonesome. By 2000, J started a new project, leaving the moniker Dinosaur Jr. behind him. However, in 2005, the original lineup reunited, played some shows, and decided that they got along OK after all. A spot at Lollapalooza was given, and a national tour followed, with the majority of songs being played coming from those initial, original lineup days. Beyond is the first release with that lineup since 1988’s Bug. Let’s see how they did!

Track 1 – Almost Ready
0:01 – Things kick off with a hot guitar solo and fuzziness from all the instruments – even the snare drums!
0:38 – “Come ooon, life. I’m almost ready…” I could be hearing that wrong, but that’s what I heard. What a catchy chorus. And this is a classic Dino track. Stringy-haired gentleman across this land are bobbing their heads back and forth as we speak.
1:39 – First really dirty solo from J (first of many we hope!).
1:58 – “Find the truth, I’m way off track again.”
2:27 – OK, even if the rest of the album turns out to be garbage, they quite a tune here. Hummable, singable, headbangable if you wanted. A perfect first track.

Track 2- Crumble
0:02 – The intro reminds me somewhat of "The Lung" from You’re Living All Over me (but that’s grossly misleading as this song is much mellower and sweeter – I just didn’t know that two seconds in, but I do now at 17 seconds in – sue me).
1:05 – I love and hate these short titles J always gives his songs. They definitely fit the tunes and the band, but it makes them so darn hard to remember. And they’re almost never taken from the chorus.
1:39 – Super-rich guitar chords here.
3:11 – Why do I feel like we’re four or five songs in already? Each of these first two songs have a lot of different segments. The sound is excellent thus far. Very rich and buzzy.

Track 3 – Pick Me Up
0:23 – The riff here is almost a mid-90s glam rock thing (an era that should never have been). I can’t really explain it. I’m sure it’ll change in a second.
0:37 – Yeah, very J Mascis + the Fog right now.
1:25 – “Am I wrooooooong? All alooooong….”
2:04 – If anyone can get his guitar to sound just like a Theremin, it’s J Mascis.
2:47 – Break it down now, half-speed.
3:37 – An extended, lyrical solo from J.
4:56 – Solo still going. I miss the guitar as a lead instrument, don’t you?
5:58 – I think we get some strings in the background here, but who can be bothered by them? J is wailing…

Track 4 – Back to Your Heart
0:15 – First track with Barlow singing. There is something very charming in his delivery. His voice is smooth, but with a hint of urgency.
1:39 – The chorus is very bluesy – almost stompy with Barlow crooning the song’s title.
3:02 – “Think about the future, let the past unwind,” which I guess kind of explains how we got to this point.

Track 5 – This is All I Came to Do
0:02 – Punchy opening to this one.
1:04 – OK, the title on this’n’ll be easier to remember as the chorus is “This is all I came to do…” repeated four times.
2:03 – I kind of feel like the boys mailed this one in. It’s clearly a Dinosaur Jr. song, but there’s not much to say about it beyond that. They’ve got several songs akin to this one that are better. Even the words in the chorus are vanilla.
4:20 – Nothing new to report. Just giving a shout out for the stoners.

Track 6 – Been There All the Time
0:14 – Now we’re rawkin’ a bit more. Murph is in control here.
1:15 – “Is it ooooon me?” is repeated. A quicker pace – this sounds like classic Dino. Did I use that line already? Whatever.
2:19 - Tons of guitars going every which way all at once.
3:30 – Damn is J punishing that guitar!

Track 7 – It’s Me
0:09- Verrry Thunderkiss ’65! (chun-chun-chugga-cha-chun-chun-chugga)
1:57 – Definitely the heaviest track thus far – at least from the guitars. Murph isn’t really pounding, but is quite active.
3:27 – “I know why – I know why, if I can fight will you believe?” I’m not sure how that goes together, but it’s a positive lyric to be sure.
4:27 – My receipt says “CD/DVD” for this purchase. Should I be excited? Or is Best Buy just kinda dumb?

Track 8 – We’re Not Alone
0:05 – Light and sweet guitars get the last third of the album going.
1:04 – So this is the one for the ladies – or something. The plaintive male: “I wanted you to say… be around.”
1:57 – A held chord fades out, and the whole song shifts a bit – a little peppier and more positive.
2:32 – Man did J live in the wrong era. He’s shredding on a sweet little love song and it fits perfectly. If this was 1988, people would have worshiped him. What? Dino was around in ’88? Oh yeah. Maybe they should have done a video with strippers or something.

Track 9 – I Got Lost
0:26 – All acoustic guitars.
0:37 – Toms fill in the gaps a bit.
1:08 – There’s falsetto J. I wasn’t sure if he was still into that. It’s a very sparse song for him to be climbing that high, but it’s working for me right now.
2:51 – I can’t really understand J when he’s singing this high. We do have a cello involved now (kind of snuck up on me). But the song is not going through many other changes.

Track 10 – Lightning Bulb
0:08 – Lou singing again.
0:22 – “Truth is no one knows, how the garden grows.” I missed the line that followed this, but that’s kind of blah, no?
0:50 – The bass is throbbing right now. It’s almost funky, but too heavy to be so.
2:33 – It’s so different from something J would write. I like this song, though (reminds me of Flame by Sebadoh – nowhere near as great as that song, but there’s some connection there).

Track 11 – What if I Knew
0:13 – Start of this one indicates a calm finish to the album
0:48 – Super buzzy
0:54 – Edgy guitar solo – it’s sharp like a blade, hanging out over the top of everything
3:15 – This song is just a vehicle for another impressive solo. And that’s how it’s going to wind up.

They found the right place – right in between their old, old stuff and the most recent releases by J Mascis + the Fog. I would have liked something a bit more epic along the lines of Get Me or Alone, but maybe I’ll discover that kind of thing buried in here on subsequent listens. The album is getting great reviews and I can see why. If you’re at all interested, I recommend going out and picking it up (cheapest price I found was Circuit City for 12.99). Oh, and you should also pick up You’re Living All Over Me as well as Where You Been, you slacker!