In Michael Azerrad’s classic document on the American underground of the eighties, Our Band Could Be Your Life, few bands are portrayed as having such deep and inherent contradictions as Dinosaur Jr. While groups like Black Flag or Butthole Surfers channelled their chaotic and baiting lifestyles into equally tumultuous music, Dinosaur Jr became synonymous with the slacker movement. The slacker tarred a whole generation as too laid back and chilled to really care about anything at all. Behind the scenes the band was being fuelled by passive aggressive conflict and deep held resentment. When their chapter in Azerrad’s book comes to an end, reunion or any form of reconciliation seems unlikely. One of the last times the original line-up played together ended in guitarist and lead singer J Mascis and bassist Lou Barlow wielding their instruments like swords as they fought each other onstage. Barlow then went on to sue Mascis over royalties after a bitter, messy breakup. The experience would fuel much of Barlow’s 90s music released under Sebadoh, which were often thinly veiled jabs at Mascis.

But not only is the original line-up back together, they seem closer now then they ever did during their heyday in the late eighties. Making for a reunion that feels much more heart warming and genuine than the more cynically-motivated reformed bands of recent years. It also helps that they’re making some of the best music they’ve ever made. 2007’s Beyond is as strong as any record in Dinosaur’s catalogue and while perhaps Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not doesn’t quiet reach the heights of that album, it serves as a healthy reminder that there are few bands we should be more grateful for burying the hatchet and giving it another shot than Dinosaur Jr.

On Give a Glimpse… Mascis is still very much Mascis. He still has a knack for deceptively naïve and simple sounding melodies. And he still sounds like Neil Young after his brain’s been zapped from spending a whole weekend doing nothing but watching daytime TV and eating leftover takeaway pizza. He’s also still a totally effortless songwriter that can twist an idea we’ve heard a thousand times and make it sound totally new with a flick of his wrist. It’s a trick you feel he could carry on doing indefinitely, without ever fluctuating the regularity of his output or dipping much in quality.

Prior to the album coming out, the band released a clip of every one of Mascis’ solos from the album compressed into one seven-minute track. It’s hard to imagine another guitarist of Mascis’ generation who could warrant such a move, or who is so synonymous with their soloing. Not only because 80s underground rock shunned such virtuosity as crass and showy, but also because there are few guitarists who have as unique a sound as Mascis. His particular tone and the effortless fluidity of his playing – like his guitar is merely another limb he’s able to control as easily as wiggling his toes – make his solos almost instantly recognisable.

The same goes for the riffs. The monstrous, fuzzed up, central stomper of ‘I Walk for Miles’ is crushingly heavy and searing enough to singe your eyebrows within a ten-foot radius. In contrast the opening to ‘Be A Part of Me’ is gorgeously delicate and melodic, yet both are unmistakably the work of Dinosaur.

The album begins with the 0-120mph duo of ‘Going Down' and ‘Tiny’. ‘Tiny’ in particular is a classic up-beat piece of punk rock that feels custom made for getting a crowd jumping and getting soaked in each other’s beverages.

‘Lost All Day’ chronicles the aftermath of a break-up, walking around and wondering what went wrong, but in typical Dinosaur Jr fashion it also feels like a celebration of aimlessness, wandering off without any direction or aim; just doing it because you feel like it. Barlow contributes one of the strongest tracks of the album with ‘Love Is…’. Which shouldn’t be surprising when you consider much of the angst alt-rock Barlow released under Sebadoh in the 90s far surpassed the major label, sans Barlow, years of Dinosaur Jr. Rooted in 60s folk rock, ‘Love Is…’ works as a lovely mid album palate cleanser while still containing a totally ripping Mascis solo.

Even in their youth, Dinosaur Jr were imitating their elder statesmen. Pulling on classic rock and sixties pop and country music when such things were reviled and virtually demonised in DIY and underground rock communities. They’ve now become the dinosaurs of rock they’ve always secretly wished they were. To be honest, their new position suits them really rather well indeed.
Louis Ormesher

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