Hand It Over Review

[Cloud9]

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Lois Maffeo, who happens to be one of my heroes, has quite proudly stated: "my own career is based on the eradication of the guitar solo". If those aren’t words to be inspired by, I don’t know what could possibly be. Certainly not "when you find a woman, you find a friend", the opening line to the zillionth Dinosaur Jr song to sound the same, Mick, which then proudly climbs right on into an ill-fitting guitar solo. Hand It Over is certainly not the re-invention it claims to be.

After their familiarity-breeds-contempt career finally caught up to them in the utterly warranted critical and commercial hiding that the phenomenally average Without A Sound took, it almost seemed to knock the fore’er recumbent J.Mascis out of cruise-control, with Dinosaur Jr more than on the wane, as dead as that black chick on Home and Away.

Resurrectional inspiration was supposed to have come when Mascis, after cameoing in and provided the score to Gas, Food, Lodging, was solicited by Allison Anders to contribute to the soundtrack of Grace of My Heart (did anyone else spot Vivian Trimble’s fleeting appearance in the latter or is it jus’me?), specifically the section of the film in which the Brian Wilson-esque character (for some incomprehensible reason handed to Matt, uhh, Dillon) is recording his new album. Part of this blatant Beach Boys homage, in which Mascis collaborated with Redd Kross, is the single Take A Run At The Sun (the video features the one-n-only Kevin Shields); but the rest of the album unfortunately doesn’t have the guts to step out of the comfy Dino-surrounds, to ply an ideology of — my god — fun into the stale, fly-blown beast.

There are a few glimpses of extra-curricular addition on Hand It Over, but they don’t fight hard enough to stop it from being the one of the most pointless records of the year. The wonderful Take A Run At The Sun is certainly the choice, but Never Bought It (warning: guitar solo) mixes a lil’more in with cheesy faux-flute Casio rhythms and femme backing vox, Gettin’ Rough moves into chintzy folkoristic acousticisms, and I’m Insane steps into the kings court of kitsch with a hornified counter-rhythm, before selling out into same-old same-old with, yep, another guitar solo.

So if you’re strictly looking for new sights to see, there’s slim pickins, as you’d want to skip right on by I Don’t Think (warning: yet another guitar solo), the wistful siesta I’m Not Over You (warning: yet another guitar solo), the overt lovesong closer Gotta Know (warning: yet another guitar solo), the bland rock of Nothing’s Goin On (warning: yet another guitar solo), the robo-Dino Loaded (warning: several guitar solos), Can’t We Move This (warning: yet more guitar soloing), and the woeful see-through ballad Alone (warning: multiple, seemingly endless, big, emotive, standing-on-top-of-a-cliff with-the-wind-blowing-in-your-hair guitar solos).

While "Cheer, cheer, there’s a few tweaks" is the supposed reaction, merely side-stepping the swiftly advancing beast of irrelevancy is not to be praised: A new coat of paint certainly does not repair the rotting wood. And enough with the fucking guitar solos. (APR 97)

[AGAP]

Hey Spaceboy,

That must have hurt typing that one up, geez I think she doesn’t like guitar solos [img]images/smiles/converted/eek.gif[/img]

Never Bought IT is one of my fav’s, could not do without hearing that solo daily… [img]images/smiles/converted/wink.gif[/img] Kinda a nasty review…. [img]images/smiles/converted/eek.gif[/img] Going out of her way to be nasty, so I am turning my cartoon vision on high and picturing her stuck in a chair covered in bugs listening to HIO forever and ever…great cartoon [img]images/smiles/converted/biggrin.gif[/img]

Allison [img]images/smiles/converted/newangel.gif[/img]

[Cloud9]

Hey Allison

This Review Sucks [img]http://www.smilies.nl/smhair.gif[/img]
But I Find It Somehow Funny
Especially This Part:
I Don’t Think (warning: yet another guitar solo), the wistful siesta I’m Not Over You (warning: yet another guitar solo), the overt lovesong closer Gotta Know (warning: yet another guitar solo), the bland rock of Nothing’s Goin On (warning: yet another guitar solo), the robo-Dino Loaded (warning: several guitar solos), Can’t We Move This (warning: yet more guitar soloing), and the woeful see-through ballad Alone (warning: multiple, seemingly endless, big, emotive, standing-on-top-of-a-cliff with-the-wind-blowing-in-your-hair guitar solos
I think She Hates Guitar Solos [img]images/smiles/converted/eek.gif[/img]

That Cartoon of U IS Great [img]http://www.smilies.nl/laugh2.gif[/img]

[AGAP]

Hey Spaceboy,

Your right it is pretty hilarious…go figure though someone who HATES guitar solos reviewing a Mascis disc…no bias at all [img]images/smiles/converted/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Cartoon vision kicks ass, use it pretty much all the time…driver yesterday that cut me off was covered in huge bloodsucking mosquitoes for eternity [img]images/smiles/converted/eek.gif[/img] In my HIO cartoon that writer was tied to the chair with purple rope [img]images/smiles/converted/wink.gif[/img]

Allison [img]images/smiles/converted/eek.gif[/img]

[SG]

I think that person obviously is`nt much a fan,I don`t like to catergorize people but this woman sounds like an indie elite pro chick rock type;which is fine,but not the kind of person who digs J.
I like Lois Maffeo too(she writes reviews in CMJ magazine as well as a musician)but it seems to be conflicting camps of indie/punk rockers of what`s cool,I think this woman should remember that Donna Dresch was once in Dinosaur Jr.

[FlyingCloud]

I like Hand It Over very much, but I think the consistent hatred of this lady is quite funny [img]images/smiles/converted/aliensmile.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/converted/aliensmile.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/converted/aliensmile.gif[/img]

[Author]

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