Just gimmie indie rock!
June 26, 2011 5:16 PM   Subscribe

Henry Rollins talks with Dinosaur Jr. An 18 minute chitchat followed by a loud, rocking show, most of which was also posted: The Wagon Out There Don't
posted by vrakatar (23 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wow, J Mascis's hair turned white? I just had one of those "I had no idea how much time has passed" moments.
posted by not_on_display at 5:33 PM on June 26, 2011


Man, this is SO not indie rock.

This is a sludgefest.
posted by gcbv at 5:39 PM on June 26, 2011


Repulsion!
posted by Elmore at 5:40 PM on June 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


I've liked Dinosaur Jr (well, J Mascis) stuff since I stumbled onto Bug just after it was released like 25 years ago, but later albums brought diminishing returns, for me, at least. I started listening to 2009's Farm a few weeks back, though, and that is one great album. It's my favorite J Mascis stuff in ages: heavy, hooky, fun. But there are folks who just can't stand his vocal style, and though I like it, I can sympathize.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:06 PM on June 26, 2011


I agree, stav.

I loved You're Living All Over Me (which I thought was their masterpiece) and Bug, then kinda lost interest (for decades) until a friend urged me to listen to Farm. And it really is good! Not a band that I would have thought would have made a great record some 25 years down the line. Surprising.

And live? They are the loudest thing that was ever loud. They're so loud the music is almost visible, shimmering in the air. There was a great quote from Mascis back in the day about how he developed his sound. He said that he started as a drummer, and when he switched to guitar he didn't really know what he was doing, so he just turned everything up until he could feel the pulses of sound on the back of his legs.

Speaking of drumming, when he isn't fronting Dinosaur Jr, Mascis is banging the skins for stoner/doom/metal outfit Witch.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 6:22 PM on June 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


Farm was a very good album.
posted by vrakatar at 6:23 PM on June 26, 2011


I absolutely loved Bug and was a huge Dinosaur fan but when I heard the song Poledo on YLAOM something clicked and I played it over and over becoming completely obsessed with it. I read that the song was all Lou Barlow with a 2 and 4 track recorder and I was blown away. When J canned Lou my allegiance went with him. I never was able to listen to the post-Lou Dinosaur albums and I could never understand why J was considered a genius when IMO Lou was the soul of the band. Everything Lou did post Dinosaur blew away J's crappy MTV friendly offerings.

With that said, Farm is a pretty damn good album and it's nice to see Lou and Murph have figured out a way to communicate with J and make new music.
posted by photoslob at 6:27 PM on June 26, 2011


J Mascis turned into a chubby Dumbledore. A Chumbledore if you will (You're Living All Over Me gives me chills when I listen to it.)
posted by to sir with millipedes at 6:30 PM on June 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


Sebadoah was a great band also.
posted by vrakatar at 6:32 PM on June 26, 2011


I'm excited to check this out, because every J mascis interview I've read or heard has been the definition of the "like pulling teeth".
posted by Think_Long at 6:47 PM on June 26, 2011


I was at this show at Terminal 5, it was pretty great and brought me back to my college days. Dinosaur was disappointingly quiet though. Even Fucked Up was too quiet, honestly.

Highlights for me were the dude who provoked a nice series of threats from Rollins by throwing his shoes. And, of course, the kid who Dinosaur brought on stage to scream during DONT (see link in post). Lou Barlow didn't want to hurt his voice. He always was so dainty, last time I saw him in concert was with Sebadoh circa 1995 and he literally left the stage for the night in tears.
posted by malphigian at 8:26 PM on June 26, 2011


omg. I was at this show!

This was the night I realized that D, Jr. are a chick band. So many ladies rockin out while their dudes did the Standing Still.

I'd never seen them live before, and was surprised at how tight they were. Not that I expected them to be sloppy, but they always struck me as a jammier band. Also, J. Mascis is like the Swamp Thing of Rock.
posted by Eideteker at 8:53 PM on June 26, 2011


I hate people who don't know when to shut up. HATE.
posted by secondhand pho at 8:59 PM on June 26, 2011


Does he get in the van?
posted by barnacles at 9:10 PM on June 26, 2011


Nice to see Lou back on the Rickenbacker...that Fender he'd been rocking since they got their gear stolen just didn't have the same heft to it.
posted by anazgnos at 9:57 PM on June 26, 2011


Word to the wise: do not throw boots at Henry Rollins.
posted by homunculus at 10:19 PM on June 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


FARM! Holy shit, so f'n good.
posted by Roachbeard at 10:26 PM on June 26, 2011


Also, J. Mascis is like the Swamp Thing Man-Thing of Rock.

FTFM.

Whosoever knows sludge burns at the sound of Mascis.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:58 AM on June 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


Some great music came out of the pioneer valley in the late 80s/early 90s.
posted by WhitenoisE at 2:57 AM on June 27, 2011


I saw them Saturday night in DC. The interview was meh, Rollins seemed like a hardcore
Roy Firestone, frankly. The show was awesome, though and to Henry's credit, he was up on the band room balcony for the whole thing, head bobbing the whole time and playing air drums. My buddy claims he was also drinking a Miller High Life. I couldn't tell.


show was great.
posted by Ironmouth at 12:19 PM on June 27, 2011


An old friend of mine is the sister of Mike Johnson. He played bass through a good chunk of '90s era Dinosaur Jr. She has told me a bunch of really cool stories about all manner of things her brother did or people she met and so on.

My favorite story she told me from the Dinosaur Jr. days is this one, because I love Dino Jr., Van Halen, and dumb jokes. For a while amongst the dudes of Dino Jr. it was funny to say when something was really cool, "Man, that's like M.A. on the B.V. with the F.J.D.B.!" It's an obvious reference to the Van Halen video for "Panama", meaning, "Man, that's like Michael Anthony on the backing vocals with the flying Jack Daniels bass!" And seriously, that is some fucking cool shit.

The counter to that was "G.C. on the L.V.", or, "Gary Cherone on lead vocals". Weak!
posted by rainperimeter at 1:47 PM on June 27, 2011


I saw the part where someone threw shoes at Henry Rollins and I though he was going to jump into the audience and start busting heads.

He handled it pretty well, though I thought it was annoying how be brought people throwing things at bands up later on in the interview. I guess everyone grows up someday.
posted by Fister Roboto at 5:51 PM on June 27, 2011


LOVE this rendition of Don't. Thanks for posting!
posted by MetalFingerz at 9:33 PM on June 27, 2011


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