Dinosaur Jr.
BBC - In Session

I am an early bird. One of those chronic nuisances who, at 8:30 AM, no matter what, whether the world is falling apart, no matter the kind of night I had or the amount of alcohol coursing through my veins, I'm up and ready to do anything by nine. Traveling with others is not for me because there’s always someone sleeping, and for me, once awake, the bed becomes quite uncomfortable. This has always forced me to wander around alone in the most varied matters and places, usually with some aggravating factor involved.

Well, that day, August 25, of who knows what year, was one of those days you regret waking up and keep asking yourself why, here, where, and I always think the same: I could drown myself... in a nutshell, I hadn't seen my girl for a month.
Having said that, whenever you’re with company and others are asleep (and you know they will sleep for much longer) you have to come up with something. And so I did!
I went down. After walking a hundred meters along Bayswater Road, I entered the park (Hyde Park). Step by step, between runners (you’re so annoying!!!) and old men with newspapers, I found an elegant English bench. Smoke that you smoke again, you can’t smoke away the boredom... so on to Plan B.

I pulled out the CD from my backpack (Dinosaur jr-The BBC Session), grabbed the CD player, popped it in, play.

"In A Jar" begins with its riff that catches you by surprise. Direct like a train, with that melody that puts an idiotic grin on your face. I remember the first thing I thought: damn, it sounds like it was recorded in the studio.
Then I thought: well, they’re studio records that feel live. What a spectacle they must have been live in the 80s. God, what a band, God, what a guitarist. The songs follow each other amiably, as do the cigarettes and the world’s nonsense. A moment of distraction and J gets depressed: it starts "Bulbs of Passion". The voice is the same as always and I think he isn’t an early bird either, or maybe he just woke up. In any case, here, in this song... the guitar, a guitar like this, a big muff like this, does a lot of "up and down".
Damn, sometimes one just talks, does, and instead it doesn’t take much. The album ends with the acoustic version of a song I didn't know back then, "Get Me", which kind of makes you think of Neil Young, kind of makes you think you're hungry, and kind of makes you think you’ve run out of cigarettes and so it’s time to go back home because there’s a nice stack of smuggled Camels waiting for you. So I got up.

I was at peace, so peaceful that I bought breakfast for my lazy friends, and from that time on, this album has had a therapeutic effect on my days. It calms me just as you’re tranquil after one of those rocking gigs, and meanwhile, I wait.

Moral of the story: travel either alone or well accompanied; limit alcohol supply to friends if they really can’t handle it; always carry with you, in everyday life, a Dinosaur jr album; if you want to see some rock, the real deal, forget London (except for the peace of Camden Town)... it's not for you and if you really have to go: well, visit HMV... my favorite London happiness-seller store.

1. In A Jar
2. Leper
3. Keep The Glove
4. Budge
5. Bulbs Of Passion
6. Raisins
7. Keeblin
8. No Bones
9. Does It Float
10. Get Me