To be fair, though, Mascis and the boys, Lou Barlow and Murph, definitely do it up on their fifth album since reuniting the original lineup un 2005. is arguably a much cooler hang than the legions of PJ hangers-on. than PJ, but their status as an active legacy act has cemented them in the annals of old-guy rock ‘n’ roll. But people will line their asses up to watch them live. In the sense that they put out albums every half decade or so to very little notice or care. ![]() Yet it feels kind of like they’ve become Pearl Jam. have been with me longer than time itself. This is not the kind of Neil Young reference we normally associate with Dinosaur Jr.Dinosaur Jr. It’s a little bit CSNY in places, but without the stacked harmonies. Barlow’s second tune, “You Wonder”, rounds off the record in a sweet, low-key manner. Mascis counterpoints the vocal melody with just the right amount of stinging lead work. The middle eight is gorgeous – in fact, the whole thing is gorgeous. “Garden” is an earnestly sung, mid-tempo tune with hope at its core. Lou Barlow contributes his customary brace of tunes to Sweep It Into Space. In the elegant gibberish of the lyric, out pops a lovely line: “All the changes pending / Traction for the flow.” I’m not sure what it means, but I agree with it. “I Expect It Always” occupies similar territory but is darker with some lovely chord changes. Mascis holds the guitar abuse in check until the solo section, where he splurges in a very appealing manner. ![]() “And Me” is a taut little rocker that sounds like your favorite power-pop band after way too many energy drinks. When Mascis gets a hold on his inner Hendrix, beautiful things happen. Pushed along by Murph’s charmingly clattering drums, the tune takes the most unlikely of components and blends them into something splendid. It’s a weird mixture of grunge and country-rock with a bit of barrelhouse piano and Mascis making his debut on Mellotron, thrown in for good measure. Just when you’re settling down into a melody-friendly noise fest, along comes “Take It Back”. If Mascis did meet the Stones, what on earth did they talk about? I think we should be told. ![]() “I Met the Stones” starts a little like “Living After Midnight” by Judas Priest before settling into the delightful, sludgy groove that we’ve come to know and love. And they manage to do all that without sacrificing their power. Despite the rather nihilistic title, it’s crammed with lovely hooks and even a cute backup vocal. The album starts with the sprightly rocker “I Ain’t”, which tips its baseball cap in the direction of “Teenage Riot” era Sonic Youth. Don’t get me wrong, the guitars are still noisy and the rhythm section is still aggressive, but the melodies have been dug out from underneath the layers of fuzz and placed firmly at the forefront of every song on this record. If you own and enjoy Copper Blue by Bob Mould’s post- Hüsker Dü band Sugar, you should stop reading this right now and scoop up a copy of Sweep It Into Space. ![]() Producer Kurt Vile has cut through the impenetrable wall of overdriven guitars and pulled out acres of melody from the trio. At least with this record, he had a cast-iron excuse for his tardiness. It’s a year late, but J Mascis was never one to run when he could saunter. In these uncertain times, that’s rather comforting. Dinosaur Jr.‘s Sweep It Into Space is one of those albums that sounds really loud, even when you play it at a moderate volume.
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