A Short History of Dinosaur Jr

Although Dinosaur Jr are known as a grunge band they were around several years before the Seattle based grunge explosion, playing their loose melodic alt.rock. Then they were simply called Dinosaur. Some of the Britain's noisier shoegazing bands like Ride and The Boo Radleys were inspired by the likes of Mascis, Barlow and Murphy. They were especially inspired by the guitar of Mascis and his peerless solo's.

Main man Mascis was weaned on the Beach Boys. Though as he reached his teenage years he fell in love. The new love of his young life was hardcore, straight-edged punk. This movement had an ethos like any other movement. It was puritanical. No drugs, no drink, and no meaningless sex. At the time, in the early eighties, this was rebellious, especially for a teenage boy. Mascis didn't care for British punk bands who were endlessly linked to such vices.

The first band he put together was called "Deep Wound". It included Lou Barlow, a shy kid who hailed from Boston, and a singer called Charlie who was educator to the young Mascis in terms of hardcore. In 1984 Charlie was replaced by Murphy. Mascis, who had been the drummer, took over the vocal and guitar duties. He felt his guitar was a poor replacement as it lacked the physicality of drumming so he played as loud as possible and with as many pedals as possible to try to recapture the dynamic he felt while playing drums. So the young band practiced, as young bands tend to do. Then they took the giant leap of actually playing live and were, to their astonishment, spotted by Sonic Youth who became fans.

Their second album (the first under the Dinosaur Jr name) was called "You're Living All Over Me" and soon became one of the most influential indie rock albums of all time. The songs have proper tunes and hooks, the drums are virtually hardcore and the guitar comes on like a crazy Neil Young. It pre-dated grunge and became a blueprint for alt.rock. Nobody had ever heard anything like it before. The way it mixed the guitar sound, the drums, the bass and the tunes. The guitar just leaps out of the speaker. Another thing that was "new" and different was Mascis' singing style. It was sort of tuneless, sort of whiny, yet full of lazy slacker cool. It defined the beginning of the end for the hardcore monopoly over skinny white kids with ripped jeans. It was the sound of ambivalent youth.

Although the album is remembered for its ferocity, there is also a great deal of space within each song, as well as jangly guitars, dynamic shifts, and great tunes. The band had been listening to Sonic Youth, Dream Syndicate and Metallica before they recorded.

Their next album was "Bug" and for many fans this is where they picked up the Dinosaur Jr story. It contained the indie hit "Freak Scene" which took the band's template and maxed out on the guitars, sharpened up the production and blissed out with a great indie tune. Seeing them live at the time was a physical experience. They were so loud. Just unbelievably loud. The album was another classic.

Soon after the band split. Barlow went on to form acclaimed indie outcasts Sebadoh. Mascis went on to release several pretty good albums under the name of Dinosaur Jr, but none recaptured the chemistry and dynamics of their first records. The band reformed and recorded a new album of original stuff in 2007. Reaction has been mixed. Though the true legacy of Dinosaur Jr is that they helped pave the way for grunge. They were a stepping stone towards Nirvana and the monster that was "Nevermind".