One of the early surprises so far of 2007 is the quality of the first few Dinosaur Jr. tracks to surface from the forthcoming reunion album Beyond. We reported the May 1st release through Fat Possum a few weeks ago, and the anticipation levels have grown exponentially since then. The album is now available for pre-order at the Fat Possum site.
I say “surprises” because band reunions can be quite a sticky subject. The idea of band reunions are sometimes cringe worthy (ouch…Genesis), sometimes laughable (seriously, The “New” Cars, The “New” Doors?) and sometimes are actually exciting to imagine, only to be ultimately disappointing (Pixies…it could‘ve been better). I can’t think of a single reunion off the top of my head that has actually added anything worthwhile to a band’s legacy. Unfortunately, I could probably sit here all morning and recall those that sadly tarnish once impenetrable reputations (not to infer that Genesis, The Cars, or The Doors have impenetrable reputations, but you know what I mean…).
Enter Dinosaur Jr. The original members - J. Mascic, Lou Barlow, and Murph - have been playing live together again for a while now and have recorded a new album that, 2 songs in, leads me to believe they may have avoided the cliché. “Almost Ready” has been making its way around the internet for a week or so now, thanks to Pitchfork, and instantly recalls the band’s glory days. It has the patented creaky melodies and sludgy rhythm of prime 80’s albums like Bug and You’re Living All Over Me and the piercing guitar of Where You Been. It sounds like the first time you smoked pot all over again, only this time its your kids, not your parents, who are asleep in the other room.
MP3 - Almost Ready
The band recently updated their myspace as well, streaming another new song called “Been There All The Time”. Just as frenetic as “Almost There”, the song further proves the band is interested in picking up exactly where they left off in 1989. They didn’t cut corners, there was no “how can we fit in with what’s ‘cool’ today?”, no pandering. Damn if I don’t feel like me and my buddies ditched our lame prom dates and are hanging out in the back of a limo with the radio turned up really, really loud.
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