Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not - Dinosaur Jr
Honestly reviewing a Dinosaur Jr record is a difficult journey of self reflection at this point. I was already bonkers over the first two records when Bug came out. I remember buying Bug at a record store that catered to students of Virginia Tech. I mentioned the good reviews that it was getting and she asked me the way you ask someone if they’ve dropped acid yet, “Have you HEARD it?” “No,” I confessed. “It’s that good?” I asked. “Oh YEAH,” she replied with the yeah drenched in college chick sexuality.
So that’s the bar. They were (and likely are) an astounding powerhouse live. Every guitar riff was perfect, the solos shot through the heart, the vocals cracked into your soul. After Bug, a few Dinosaur Jr tracks here and there hit the spot but mostly I turned to Sebadoh and J Mascis’ solo acoustic stuff.
In so many interviews I’ve heard bands ponder why so many have wandered. Is an album just as good not as good in another time and space? Is it me demanding the impossible? That my youth be returned in the process. Can my old college girl get my old dick rock hard again?
Dinosaur Jr bridged to the Swans through Sonic Youth. The Swans and Sonic Youth have given us so much after the 80’s. Is it me? Am I open to Sonic Youth because the SYR series leaves my youth alone? Is the musical self immolation of Michael Gira what keeps me on board. They were never young.
I’m serious about this. I need that spark of joy from Dinosaur Jr. If the signal is all there but my heart doesn’t open then what the **** is wrong with me?