(PIAS/Liberator)

Seminal grunge originators back for a second bite of their reformation

Although Dinosaur Jr. continued as a band into the mid-’90s, the line-up recognized as a classic came to a close in 1989 with Lou Barlow splitting to form Sebadoh. But that all changed in 2007 when the three originals – Barlow, J Mascis and Murph – reunited for Beyond, only their fourth album together. The surprise was, contrary to most comeback efforts, it wasn’t lame – far from it in fact. This second post-reunion effort seeks to carry on where that left off, and for the most part succeeds, again by not tampering too much with the formula. There’s that laconic, cool but drained vocal, lyrics about feeling the pain inside and lurching melodies that crawl into your head, all booted along by the trademark fuzzed-up guitars scything and bucking, then dropping away in what became one of the templates for the quiet-loud juxtaposition that dominated guitar bands in the ‘90s. Even when they drag a song out into epic lengths (I Don’t Wanna Go There and Said The People), they still manage to make torpor and disaffection sound so vital. For me though, the shorter sharper songs work better, from the crisp punch of opener Pieces and the searing authority of the guitars in There’s No Here to the smeared beauty of Imagination Blind and the gnarly, squeal-to-a-squall thrust of I Want You To Know. Clearly, this band isn’t facing extinction just yet.           

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BILL HOLDSWORTH

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