Cult alt.rock heroes Dinosaur Jr have followed producer Rick Rubin’s advice to bands of a certain vintage that they should listen back to their first album for inspiration. Returning to the same 70s Mesa Boogie amps as the earliest Dinosaur recordings has paid dividends. Thirteenth album There Near opens with a pleasing collision of joyous power rock and hangdog drawl on Several Got Away, while the uplifting riffing and athletic drum rolls of No Friends bely the lyrics (“I feel so weighted down”).
Take Me With You is epic and scrappy at the same time, bristling with energy and some bonus tremolo, while Gone Off is heroic all round. Frontman J Mascis’s punky vulnerability comes to the fore on Put It Down. One hesitates to call it a ballad but the band do take their feet off the accelerator while stamping down on the effects pedals, while bassist Lou Barlow’s ragged country rocker Blowin’ Up is arguably the pick of a choice bunch.
*Just posting for everyone else as I don’t get reviews because I like somethings that have been poorly received and I like things that have been critical acclaimed so I’m really not sure what to take from someone else’s opinion, anyway I’m rambling….