Weirdness Flows: The Songs of Dinosaur Jr (81-90)
90 I Walk For Miles
Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not (2016)
A bludgeoning riff soundtracks a jaded expression of loneliness and frustration. It’s easily rescued from being too one-paced by the brief falsetto middle eight and the false ending a couple of minutes from the end. The solo is appropriately full-on for the context and takes the song home powerfully.
89 I Don't Think
Hand It Over (1997)
Hand It Over’s opening track kicks things off with a muscular, chugging riff overlaid with a touchingly vulnerable falsetto vocal (‘I can't decide if you grasp the concept / ‘cos I lost it / still, I hope it's true for you’). The little surge in tempo that presages the dreamy but concise solo is a delightful touch.
88 Blah
Melrose Place - The Music (1994)
Melrose Place was a 90s soap opera that isn't well known in the UK, so I'm a bit unsure of the context or why Dinosaur Jr came to be on the soundtrack. The song itself is a slow tempo piece largely based around a cascading arpeggio. It builds in intensity impressively over the second half, and the brooding, mysterious air is emphasised by J's barely-awake vocal that's often buried under the layers of guitar (several phrases are unintelligible). Unusually, there's no guitar solo.
87 Whenever You're Ready
Farm (deluxe edition bonus track) (2009)
Effective cover of a track by British 60s beat-pop outfit The Zombies - respectful, but adding plenty of Dinosaur Jr-ness to make it more than worthwhile.
86 Can't We Move This
Hand It Over (1997)
One of those songs (like 'Almost Ready') where J dispenses with the niceties of waiting for a couple of verses and choruses before launching into a solo, electing instead to slap you about the face with a bout of squealing fretwork right at the outset. It's a decent, memorable melody over a solid riff. However, it really comes to life in the two 'Tell me I'm your man..' sections which are underpinned by staccato bursts of drums and violin* that contrast neatly with the floating mellotron* in the background.
Despite the interesting turn of phrase in the opening line (‘turned your nowhere life on me’), there's a rather casually-cobbled-together feel to much of the lyric. Also, in places - unless I've misheard - they don't make a whole lot of sense ('You're all over when can barely even stand'). That said, 'It could not have turned out weirder if I planned' is an enjoyably archetypal Mascis turn of phrase.
*Neither of these instruments feature in the credits, but that's what they sound like to these ears.
85 Hot Burrito #2
B-side to Get Me (1992)
Another spot-on cover, this time of a song by the Flying Burrito Brothers. Like ‘Whenever You're Ready’, the original is treated respectfully, but Dinosaur simultaneously stamp their identity all over it - it sounds like J was born to sing this song.
84 The Backyard
Ciao My Shining Star - The Songs Of Mark Mulcahy (2009)
In other blogs I’ve done on The Fall and The Wedding Present, cover versions did not, as a rule, fare very well. There are, of course, some clunkers in the Dinosaur Jr back catalogue, but J & co do have a knack for turning out a well-judged cover, hence so many of them appearing in this post. For my money (with one exception - can you guess what it is?), this is the best of the bunch. Originally recorded by Miracle Legion, ‘The Backyard’ is a tender, melancholy ramble to which Dinosaur Jr add a dose of Zuma-esque raggedness and capture perfectly in their own style.
83 Yeah Right
Without A Sound (1994)
Energetically busy riff meets J’s off-hand drawl to great effect. Very concise (one of the few songs to come in at under three minutes), it’s perhaps a shame that it concludes just when the double-tracked solo is just getting going.
82 The Leper
Dinosaur (1985)
Typically grinding, ragged track from the debut, full of disturbing imagery (‘Sit with my life open wide / Your stare is forcing my face open’). The slashing chords are firmly anchored by Lou’s leaping bass line.
81 Nothin's Goin' On
Hand It Over (1997)
The verse is driven by a deliciously crunchy two-chord riff; the chorus is one of those effortlessly uplifting off-hand dreamy melodies. It’s full of those simple but devastatingly effective chord changes that J knocks out with impressive ease - the squiggly sci-fi effects are a nice touch as well.
Most of us were pretty baffled at the inclusion of Dinosaur Jr on the Melrose Place Sdtk. I doubt there were more than 3 people who watched that show who also were into Dinosaur jr. But J is a sucker for Soap opera’s so maybe it was his idea.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise J was a soap fan!
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