Michael Azzerad's Our Band Could Be Your Life-- a book of profiles of 1980s bands who grew up and out of hardcore punk-- makes the polemical decision to cut each chapter off at the moment if and when each band signed to a major label. On the one hand, this is understandable. Between roughly 1986 and 1991, American indie bands began being sucked into the maw of WEA/Sony/Megahyperglobochemcorp at quick clip. But before Nirvanania found CEOs courting such obvious hit makers as Daniel Johnston and the Jesus Lizard, this was less a cultural given than a leap into the dark for both band and label alike. Azzerad's decision is problematic, however, because it ignores the thorny realities of what happened when each band engaged with the major label machinery-- whether it imploded (like Hüsker Dü) or thrived (like Sonic Youth).
Dinosaur Jr.-- featured in one of Our Band's most entertaining chapters-- imploded when they were still on an indie. And now majorhyperglobochemcorp Rhino reissues Dino's first two albums after they signed to Sire/Warner Bros. at the turn of the 90s-- Green Mind and Where You Been?-- as well as a previously unreleased acoustic solo set from the same period by Dino frontman J Mascis. (The preceding records, Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me and Bug, were reissued last year by Merge.) The two reissues add a handful of bonus tracks-- singles, live takes, stuff from the vault, none particularly revelatory-- as well as typically erudite liner notes from Byron Coley. Green Mind was recorded mostly by Mascis after the original Dinosaur Jr. shook itself fitfully apart following Bug and he had played through a series of temporary lineups. Original bassist Lou Barlow had already formed Sebadoh and would spend the next decade or so badmouthing Mascis in print. Original drummer Murph only plays on three songs. But the music is just a step on from where Dino had arrived at on Bug: ripcord solos, waves of feedback, jetties of New Order/Cure-style jangle, and Mascis' slack yowl delivering lyrics utterly bewildered by human contact. Opener "The Wagon" snarls with nearly as much pop hookcraft and gnarly guitar spizz as Bug's opener "Freak Scene". But throughout the album, Mascis' solos become more controlled bursts of classic rock, less spirals off the dirt track into the ditch of fuzz and mud. Inspirational verse: "There's a way I feel right now/ Wish you'd help me, don't know how/ We're all nuts, so who helps who/ Some help when no one's got a clue." Inspirational song title: "Puke + Cry".
Where You Been was released in 1993, the high grunge moment. It's a bit cleaner than the earlier recordings and somehow also a little less jangly and a bit more, well, grungy. Mascis' guitar is now a Ouija board channeling the King Biscuit Flower Hour heroes of his youth. Recorded with a full band-- bassist Mike Johnson and drummer Murph-- the record has a "three dudes in a room" beefiness that was somewhat lacking on Green Mind. The guitar on "Out There" snarls and the vocal is one of the Mascis' most plaintive. His voice actually improved with age, his youthful cracked mewl deepening into a cosmic yawn-- even if the vocal on "Not the Same" is so high, nasally, and lonesome that it probably still owes Neil Young royalties a decade later. Speaking of nasally: "Start Choppin" was the closest thing the band ever got to a hit until the modern rock staple "Feel the Pain" a year later, and no one can ever say Dino lacked a sense of humor when they hear that ridiculous falsetto note on the chorus. "What Else Is New" adds a pretty string section outro as if the band hadn't been doing pretty since the beginning. When it comes to early 90s major label guitar albums, you could do a lot worse than Where You Been and as someone who lost his Columbia House-purchased copy when he went to college, I was glad to revisit it.
Your enjoyment of J Mascis Live at CBGB's will be dependent on how much you enjoy his voice, his guitar playing, and his songs minus the fuzz. (And, in the case of "What Else Is New", the strings.) The set stretches back to "Repulsion" off the first Dino album and up to material from the about-to-be-released Where You Been, as well as Skynyrd and Wipers covers by request. For someone who claims to have never played a solo show before, Mascis' voice and guitar are in fine form throughout, and for someone with a reputation as a grump, he's got a good line in personable stage patter. Still, even without bonus tracks it's strictly for fans only. The other two reissues, however, are recommended to anyone too young to have heard them the first time around or anyone who wrote off the band's post-SST work. Or maybe just to anyone who thinks being an autistic depressive can always be improved by a really kick ass guitar solo.
