Dinosaur Jr. reunites and the world rejoices.
Not only are the founding members J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph are back together (who haven’t played with each other since 1988’s “Bug,”) but 2007’s “Beyond” is the first Dinosaur Jr. album in ten years.
One could raise the question if the motivation for such a reunion might be of a financial nature, but such blasphemy doesn’t really belong in the discussion at all. Not when Mascis guitars are as vital and electric as if the original band never broke up at all.
“Beyond” sounds like a time machine that brings you back to the glory days of Dinosaur Jr. in the late 80s when the band released “You’re living all over me” and the prementioned “Bug.” Sometimes it’s good to have a retro trip that reminds you that there used to be something more to wielding a guitar than the meat-hammering of nu-metal and emo.
“Been there all the time” is a melodious conflagration full of energy that makes you want to start practicing your air guitar again. It also packs a mean punch of a solo (which is actually a pretty moot point, since all the tracks on “Beyond” are front heavy in the solo-department.)
“We’re not alone” is a delicate ballad that manages to fudge a dirty guitar in the last quarter of the song. Together with the semi-acoustic “I got lost,” –with its stellar drum play by Murph and escalating strings– it is the best song of the album.
“Lightning Bulb,” a song written by Barlow, is a nice piece of post-shogazing with some seriously hairy guitars growing on it.
That is not saying that “Beyond” doesn’t have its downsides. Barlow’s voice isn’t as vibrant and distinct as Mascis singing, so the album would have benefited if only Mascis had approached the microphone. Another problem with “Beyond” is that one can only listen to heavily guitar-based music for so long before all the songs start to sound the same.
All in all though, Dinosaur Jr. does not disappoint, not even the ten years later version. “Beyond” is definitely something to check out, for all you guitar-aficionados out there.