Dinosaur Jr.
Without A Sound

The post-Lou Barlow phase in Dinosaur Jr's career is often a topic of discussion among fans of American rock from that era. On one side, there are those who claim that the quality of works like “You're Living All Over Me” and “Bug”—true cornerstones of American indie rock—are unattainable, while on the other, those who unconditionally appreciate the more classic breath of works like “Where You Been” (in one of Rumore's Practical Guides I came across a statement that the SST period albums cloned the sound of Husker Du: unbelievable!).

While I appreciate the stylistic path of the long-haired Mascis during the major phase, it seems obvious to me that his contribution to American music is more evident in the indie phase. The despotic leader of the Dinosaur was revolutionary in reviving names, forgotten at the time, like Neil Young and reinterpreting them through the prism of hardcore and his very personal songwriting, although he drew from various sources.

The post “Green Mind” Mascis was an excellent manager of his own talent, but he had already given his best. A year after the release of his bestseller “Where You Been”, “Without A Sound” was released: a work that had the difficult task of expanding the Bostonian group's audience, during the years when alternative dominated MTV. This is evident from listening to the first two tracks and singles, “Feel The Pain” and “I Don’t Think So”: irresistibly melodic and catchy, without compromising the traditional Mascian guitar barrage, where “I Don’t Think So” veers towards unusual roots territories. Songs that the Foo Fighters have been trying to write for ten years.

Unfortunately, much of “Without A Sound” is not equally memorable. In fact, there is a soft underbelly made up of attempts to reproduce the unmistakable sound of Mascis's 6-string (from the scrappy solos to the famous “airplane effect”), but nothing touches the perfection of past archetypes like “The Leper” or “Let It Ride”. In fact, tracks like “Even You”, ”Over Your Shoulder”, ”Mind Glow” and “On The Brink” turn out to be somewhat redundant, tied to blurred themes and inexorably déjà vu.

But class is eternal, and among the grooves of “Without A Sound” a couple of gems are found that offer a vintage Mascis: two soft acoustic ballads such as “Outta Hand” and the magnificent “Seemed Like The Thing To Do”. Especially in the latter, J forges one of his masterpieces, his quintessential ballad, with textbook arpeggios and a shiver-inducing voice, indolent as expected but free from Young's burdensome shadow.

Chapeau!