His solo studio full-length debut, Several Shades of Why (2011), was largely underwhelming, notwithstanding a couple of standout songs. His subsequent two solo albums, Tied to a Star (2014) and
Elastic Days (2018), featured elements of the brio that characterise his guitar work for Dinosaur Jr., but to a severely limited degree. All of these albums were acoustic guitar-driven. For his latest LP, What Do We Do Now, he has purportedly employed full drum and electric lead guitar parts for the first time, whilst retaining his usual acoustic guitar for the rhythm parts. It also features Ontarian multi-instrumentalist Matthew “Doc” Dunn as a guest steel guitarist and B-52s keyboardist Ken Maiuri on piano.
Acoustic guitars are still fairly prominent on many of the songs here, with Mascis’ trademark Fender Jazzmaster just appearing in the form of a solo on opening track “Can’t Believe We’re Here,” but the electric parts are further foregrounded and intertwine more with the acoustic parts on tracks such as “What Do We Do Now” and “Right Behind You.” Dunn’s steel guitar dominates “You Don’t Understand Me,” lending the song a country tinge that has hitherto been largely absent from Mascis’ solo work.
The pace of “It’s True,” “Hangin’ Out,” and the piano-heavy “I Can’t Find You” is slow and plodding, and these tracks are among What Do We Do Now’s weakest. By contrast, songs such as “Old Friends” and “Set Me Down” are jauntier in terms of their pace, but they could both do with more of Mascis’ electric guitar being utilised. The album concludes with “End Is Gettin’ Shaky,” a song that (absent Maiuri’s piano) sounds like it could have been one of the slower selections on Dinosaur Jr.’s last couple of albums. Which is fine, but it does not make for a conclusive, curtain-falling finale. Rather, the track feels slightly like a damp squib.
What Do We Do Now has some interesting moments on its first side, but quite a bit of it does feel leaden and lacking in energy. The decision to add electric lead guitars to a J Mascis solo record for the first time is a welcome one, but whilst he performs some creditable solos, this newly added instrumentation is not featured as prominently or powerfully as it could be. Existing fans of Mascis as a solo artist will probably be happy with the album, but Dinosaur Jr. fans may well not be, and it could quite possibly cause them to long for new material from that band.
