Dinosaur Jr.'s 'There Near' Is a Loud, Melodic Reminder That the Original Lineup Still Has Gears Left
Forty years on, the interesting question about a Dinosaur Jr. record is not whether it will sound like Dinosaur Jr. It will. The question is whether the band still wants something from the form. There Near, out August 28th on Jagjaguwar, answers loudly.
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: The original trio — J Mascis on guitar and vocals, Lou Barlow on bass, Murph on drums — recorded at Bisquiteen Studio in Amherst, the room they own and run themselves, with Mascis producing. That self-contained setup is audible in the bottom half of the mix: Barlow’s bass is a genuine counter-melody rather than a shelf for the guitars to sit on, and Murph is recorded with enough air around the kit that the fills read as decisions instead of punctuation.
The Spatial Dynamics: Ken Mauri’s piano and organ turn up as a third harmonic layer, filling the midrange that Mascis’s tone usually annexes entirely. Mascis has said he tracked the album through the same amp model he used on the band’s first record, chasing a sound he hadn’t gotten in a while — and the leads on There Near do sit differently, more raw edge than syrup.
Standout Performance
Lou Barlow. He writes and sings two of the eleven — “Blowin’ Up” and “No Ones Ready,” the latter closing the record — and both function as pressure valves. A Dinosaur Jr. album with Barlow songs placed this well is a band using its whole roster.
Why It’s Certified
The critical read is close to unanimous. Pitchfork called it “the hard reset Dinosaur Jr. needed. It’s the most energized they’ve sounded since Beyond.” Uncut went further: “It might be the very best of that excellent 21st-century run, fighting it out with 2009’s Farm.” Under the Radar praised tracks “teeming with melody, groove, crescendos, and the rises and falls that only a band confident in its own skin can pull off.” Start with “Several Got Away” and “Everything At Once.” Certified great.