Technician Online Review of More Light

[OriginalPosterLost]

Dinosaur Jr frontman returns with ‘More Light’

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By: Sarah Causey [more articles by author]
September 6, 2000

In 1984, while Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were toddling around in diapers biding their time, Dinosaur Jr, led by J Mascis, was releasing their first of seven albums.

The band was a precursor to the Seattle grunge scene, and Dinosaur Jr impressed critics and fans alike with textured, layered electric guitar riffs and notoriously loud and pulsing live performances. Mascis and his boys had a moderate hit in 1992 with Start Choppin. That same year Mascis made the cover of SPIN alongside the headline "J Mascis is God." By the late ’90s, grunge had gone the way of Kurt Cobain, and so had Dinosaur Jr’s record sales.

The band dissolved in 1997 just as ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys came into power over mainstream radio waves.

More Light is Mascis’ first solo album of new material. He may have changed the moniker to J Mascis The Fog, but the Dinosaur Jr sound is still there. Mascis has stayed true to his roots dishing out 11 alternative/grunge ditties that hearken back to the days of "Singles" and "Reality Bites."

Mascis, who plays as though he were the bastard son of Joe Satriani and Thurston Moore, tears into his guitar with a fervor that would leave lesser guitarists with bloody fingertips. He speaks softly, but carries a hefty ax, asking, "Where’d You Go?" on track three – obviously not very far from home.

While Mascis is inarguably a guitar maestro, he hasn’t shown much growth in his musical stylings. "Back Before You Go" could make the WXDX playlist with its formulaic straightforward hard rock. With a voice that’s simultaneously gravely and whiny, Mascis warbles through what could be great lyrics, if only you could decipher them.

The catchy "All The Girls" has a slower tempo than most of the songs on the album, but don’t be fooled – Mascis is not a rock ballad kind of guy. He’s here to make you jam in your flannel. "Wastin," one of the goofier tunes, has a rolling intro that would do Romper Room proud. Be sure to listen for the chirping birds that suddenly appear toward the end of the song.

If you own every Dinosaur Jr album, even the live ones, More Light won’t disappoint you. Even though today’s Top 10 charts are dominated by ex-Mouseketeers, singing Gap guys and overall sugar-pop overkill, Mascis is sticking to grunge. Which is fine, because he’s damn good at it.

Original Source : http://technicianonline.com/read/tol/extra/001056.html

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jeremiah
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Sold my soul and all I got was this lousy T-shirt…

[This message has been edited by jeremiah (edited November 05, 2000).]

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