After several albums on Warner Bros. that can be politely described as complete freakin’ disasters, former Dinosaur Jr. frontman (man, is he never going to escape that tag) J Mascis has rejoined the land of the living with a new album that doesn’t sound like he drank the bongwater. Instead, he lined up Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine (the band that has most tortured its fans by taking longer than Bruce Springsteen to record a follow-up album) to help resuscitate what was a comatose career, and bingo! Damned if this isn’t the toe-tapping-est release of J’s since…uh, You’re Living All Over Me, which came out when I was too young to drive.
Eleven songs are always too many coming from a horrible singer like J, but the shifting textures of ΓÇ£WaistinΓÇÖΓÇ¥ alone ensure that it ainΓÇÖt all just monolithic sludge riffs. Instead, Mascis is on his way to becoming a contributing member of societyΓÇösomething that must make the slacker in him shudder.
All recording courtesy Ultimatum Music. All songs written J Mascis; Orange Marmalade, Lettuce and Cream Cheese Music (BMI).
