J Mascis
Tied to a Star
25 August 2014
Sub Pop
3.5 stars out of 5
The “5th greatest guitarist of all time”
(according to Spin), Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis has just released his latest solo
LP, Tied to a Star. A mostly acoustic
affair, the album reveals a few things about Mascis’s songwriting—namely that
without that wah pedal and distortion, the dude’s a traditionalist. Take “Trailing
Off” as a case in point: a very delicate little tune featuring much intricate
fretwork, the song is very easily imagined with a full-band Dinosaur Jr
arrangement, and as such it would fucking rock. Same goes for the even more
delicate “Come Down,” and so on. It’s clear that J Man doesn’t change his
songwriting approach according to his environment.
And that’s perfectly okay. If, twenty years ago, you were
miffed that Dinosaur Jr never got its turn on MTV Unplugged, this record (along
with its predecessor, Several Shades of
Why) is your reward for all those years of moping. You can dust off your
flannel, park your middle-aged ass on your old skateboard, and nod along to the
music like you really fucking get it, man.
And why not? “Better Plane,” the album’s finale, is one of the strongest songs
of the man’s career, with or without the wah pedal.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
No comments:
Post a Comment