J Mascis
Several Shades Of Why

Setting aside the "Marshall stacks" that have shaped, over the years, an Indie Rock modus operandi, J Mascis arrives at the threshold of this 2011 with his first actual solo album.

Although the history of Dinosaur Jr has often and willingly transcended into hegemony, it is here - for the first time - that J Mascis puts his face and facade. He does so by stripping himself of the electric frills of the minor dinosaur and approaching a singer-songwriter form that has always been in his strings. What surprises is the compositional freshness that, in the more sustained moments, as in the airier ones, sounds personal and dear.

Although the specter of the father/godfather Neil Young hovers over the ten tracks, every piece seems to be in its place, even where rare electric interventions or parts of piano and violin appear. Let's say it plainly, much better than any post-reunion offspring of Dinosaur Jr.