SOUNDTRACK: DINOSAUR JR.- I Bet on Sky (2012).
I have been so pleased with the reunited Dinosaur Jr. I’ve enjoyed each of their albums, and feel like they really have hit a great stride of songwriting. The only difference to me is that these songs are all pretty long, something I don’t really think of as a Dino Jr thing. They do often have a few longer songs, but on this disc, 5 songs are over 5 minutes and two are nearly 5 minutes long.
As with the last album, I’m not sure why Lou Barlow agreed to reuniting. Barlow is a great songwriter and has successful other projects. He gets two (short) songs that he write and sings and that’s kind of it. I mean, they sound great and really flesh out the album, but it seems like a weird thing for him to do unless he just likes playing the old Dino stuff again.
And then of course there’s Mascis. It’s amazing how much of a slacker J Mascis sings like and yet what a careful and meticulous guitar player and songwriter he is. And yes, it’s great to have Murph on drums, too.
“Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know” opens just like a great Dino Jr song—that guitar is unmistakable. It’s a fast rocker. With a big old Dino chorus. There’s a lengthy outro solo that really stretches out the song into a jam. “Watch the Corners” is the other kind of Dino song, a chugger with big slow open chords and a nice riff. (and again a wonderful chorus). “Almost Fare” is the other, other kind of Dino song, poppy with a kind of cute riff and a slow drawl in the vocals. And “Stick a Toe In” is a slower ballad–the fourth kind of song that Masics writes so well. It has a nice chorus (with piano (!)) and some dramatic steps in the chorus. Suffice it to say that although they all sounds like Dino Jr., it’s impressive how many styles of song Mascis writes so well.
Barlow’s first song is “Rude,” a short fast punk rocker. At just under 3 minutes (with no solo) the song pounds along with a very funny chorus: “I wish I didn’t care cause caring is rude.” Even though it changes the flow of the album, it just adds to the diversity that is Dino Jr. In “I Know It Oh So Well” Mascis’ ringing guitar comes back It’s a simple song with just a few chords and a simple interstitial riff, but he makes it sound very full.
“Pierce the Morning Rain” is the only short Mascis song on the disc (and perversely it gives the album its title). It has a very heavy metal guitar riff and a super fast paced (and sung) tempo. “What Was That” is a slow burner with many elements of classic Dino—a great solo in the background of the song and a cool riff along with Mascis’s patented delivery. “Recognition” is Barlow’s other song. It almost makes 4 minutes. It sounds more like part of the record (and, strangely, also like the popular Sebadoh tracks). You can really hear Barlow’s vocal style shine through and it’s a great counterpoint to all the Mascis on the disc. It’s also great song—kind of slow and angular but with a cool fast riff in the bridge. It also features a pretty wild (and un-Masics-like) guitar solo
“See It on Your Side” is the last song and at nearly 7 minutes, it feels a little long. Although that may be because the song seems to end and then starts again. And yet, that end solo is pretty great. It’s a very notable Mascis type riff that starts the song. Even with all of the long songs, the disc still clocks in at around 45 minutes, which is really a perfect amount of Dinosaur Jr. consumption. Looking forward to the next release.
[READ: October 1, 2014] The Eye
I have had Nabokov on my list of authors to read for a long time. I have read and enjoyed a few of his books and planned to read his oeuvre at some point, just not quite yet. And then, as serendipity would have it, I stumbled on a book of his novellas (the Penguin classic edition) and decided to read them. Because they aren’t really meant to be taken as one item, I’m going to mention them individually.
The book includes a Foreword by Vladimir (his son Dmitri translated this with help from Vladimir) that talks a bit about when he wrote it and how he didn’t bother to include details about the location because it wasn’t important to the story (it’s a surprisingly casual foreword).
“The Eye” is a strange story (technically a novella or a very short novel) in which a man, despondent at the beating he receives, tries to kill himself and then believes that he does.
The narrator has been having an affair with a married woman named Matilda. He’s been a little bored with her lately, and is pretty much over her. But one night when the narrator is working as the house tutor for two boys (the boys are completely disrespectful to him and every scene with them is very funny), the cuckolded husband comes over and really beats him up. Just really lays into him (the narrator’s protestations about this not even being his house are rather amusing). I especially liked that the husband calls first and doesn’t tell him who he is “So much the better–it’ll be a surprise.” (more…)
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My friend Al knows the members of Overlake and he thought he might be attending this show. I was bummed he wasn’t there (and even moreso when I tried to text him to see if he was there and realized that I didn’t have his cell number, gah).
