Other bands have chemistry, but Dinosaur Jr. has something better than chemistry: tension. Unlike the bassist who replaced him after guitarist J Mascis kicked him out of the band, Lou Barlow doesn’t bow to Mascis’ every whim. Instead, he pushes against the grain, playing harder, heavier and faster, countering Mascis’ guitar gymnastics. From the beginning, Barlow was the band’s link to punk and hardcore, and it’s his presence that makes the group’s reunion relevant and their new output so vital.
When the band began its precarious reunion in 2005, their
cautious sets revisited only the band’s Barlow-era albums but their sets have
expanded over time to include not only the group’s recent comeback albums, but
also group’s early ’90s, post-Barlow output. These are some of Mascis’
signature songs, and it was a pleasure hearing him revisit them again Thursday
night. Mascis opened with his own personal “Free Bird,” Green Mind’s “Thumb,” and followed throughout the night with that
album’s charming single, “The Wagon,” a couple choice tracks from 1993’s Where You Been (the baleful “Out There”
and the gloriously twangy “Get Me”) and the 1994 hit “Feel The Pain.”
Barlow should resent that song the most, but he played it as if it weren’t just
Mascis’ hit but also his own, leaving his stamp on its frantic tempo and
singing co-lead on the chorus. When the song ended the group returned to
dysfunction—drummer Murph disappeared from stage without a word, while Mascis
and Barlow noodled on their instruments without addressing each other until he
returned, sans explanation—but while they were playing it was easy to envision
an alternate reality where Mascis never jettisoned his band mates and they all
shared in the success of “Feel The Pain.” It’s an alternate reality where
maybe, just maybe, these guys didn’t absolutely loathe each other.
Photos by Cj Foeckler
