Joseph Mascis is a native of the small college town Amherst, Massachusetts. In the early 1980s, he became exposed to the underground sounds of hardcore punk. Bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag would pass through town, inspiring young musicians to start their own hardcore groups. Mascis was no different. He and a few high school buddies formed Deep Wound. Initially he was a drummer, an instrument he would return to intermittently over the years. As Deep Wound petered out, Mascis and fellow bandmate Lou Barlow started Dinosaur. This band would combine the uncompromising sound of hardcore, with the classic structures of 70s rock, as well as the chiming dissonance of New Wavers like Joy Division, The Birthday Party and The Cure. This attention to the classic forms of writing and love of a good guitar solo allowed Dinosaur to really stand out from the crowd of noise-merchants emerging from the U.S. underground scene. The group produced three great albums before founding member Barlow left in 1989. Dinosaur continued for a few more albums before disappearing in the mid 1990s. Barlow's presence seemed to have act as the friction J needed and allowed him to produce his best work, dealing as it does with frustration and non-communication. Before Barlow left, Dinosaur released this absolute stomper on their Bug album, which perfectly distilled their sound into 3 and a half gloriously noisy minutes.
As I said before, J Mascis started out as a drummer, coming to the guitar relatively late. However, he quickly developed a highly personal style, mixing the classic rock playing of Neil Young, Tony Iommi and Jimi Hendrix with the drone style of 80s New Wavers Robert Smith and Bernard Sumner. His sound was a full-on feral blast of squalling feedback and virtuosic outbursts of Jazzmaster lead, perfectly summed up with the phrase "ear-bleeding country". He also had the knack for composing a catchy alt rock anthem. Here is one of the best.
J has lend his instantly recognisable sound to a variety of other projects in recent years. He has recorded with his solo project The Fog and drummed with metalheads Witch. Sonic Youth, Mike Watt of Minutemen, Broken Social Scene and The Hold Steady have all requested his services. He even got the old band back together, touring festivals and releasing great albums like the 1990s never happened. Mascis is the prototype for underground guitar hero, balancing unhinged lead work with a love of uncompromising punky riffage. He ccontinues to be a vital presence in today's music scene, creating great tunes in the process. This final track is from one of the Dinosaur reunion albums, 2007's Beyond.
Recommend Listening: You're Living All Over Me (Dinosaur Jr.)
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wzftxqesldse
Some Key Dinosaur Cuts: Sludgefeast (You're Living All Over Me), Start Choppin' (Where You Been), Feel The Pain (Without A Sound)
2 comments:
You kind of gloss over his Sire Records period, but those are fantastic albums. Particularly the last one, Hand It Over.
Thanks for the heads up. In my effort to give a quick introduction to J newbies, I neglected some of his best work. Thanks Anonymous.
Post a Comment