Dinosaur Jr. Makes the Best Album of 2016

Dinosaur Jr.

Since I started my music review blog, it was Silversun Pickups in 2012.

Then it was Arcade Fire in 2013.

It was toss-up between Phantogram and Pixies in 2014, and Puscifer in 2015.

I have developed this inadvertent habit of picking the "Best Of" album for each year.  This year, I thought it would go to DIIV.  I figured that there was no way that anyone could top that.  I was wrong.  It goes to Dinosaur Jr.  Hands down.

Dinosaur Jr., to me, is like that guy that I went to high school with.  We maybe only ever exchanged a handful of words, but didn't really know each other.  But I knew who he was, he knew who I was.  And then, decades later, after nearly forgetting him, I started seeing him on Facebook again.  So I requested him, because, in spite of our unfamiliarity, we do have history together.

I became aware of Dinosaur Jr. in 1988 with their album, "Bug", especially their songs "Freak Scene" and "Pond Song", which were staples on alternative radio back then.  They also came out with a sloppy cover of "Just Like Heaven", which, to this day, remains the best cover of a Cure song ever.  I remember Dinosaur Jr. as being deliberately messy and imprecise like Meat Puppets, and being loud and noisy like Sonic Youth.  I guess the '90s were kind to them.  They fit right in with the grunge, Lollapalooza thing, but, by then, I had moved on.  I was raising a family and couldn't keep up as much with music.  I vaguely was aware that they were still around, but I didn't hear anything by them anymore.

Until this year, when I decided to download their new album, "Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not".  And boy, I'm glad I did.  First of all, the band is back with their original lineup which is lead singer/ guitarist J Mascis, Lou Barlow on bass, and Murph on drums.  The album has their characteristic low-fi, garage rock sound, still kind of slipshod, and yet the compositions are tighter.  Age and maturity have tempered their sound, and yet they have retained the artistic integrity that they have always been known for.

It's funny.  In listening to it, I can see a lot of their influences.  I see some Husker Du, their former SST bandmates.  I see Neil Young.  A lot of Neil Young.  I played it for my wife, and she thought that they sounded like Toad the Wet Sprocket.  At first, I was like, no, Toad came out way after Dinosaur Jr.  But then I could see it.  I have always said that alt rock between 1988 and 1992 had a "sound" - pre-grunge, The Connells, The Go-Betweens, The Sidewinders, Dramarama.  Yes, Dinosaur Jr. does have that "sound".  They are marked by the era that they came out of, but that's not a bad thing.  This is really a great album.  Every song grabs you.  Like I said, this is the best album of 2016.

"Goin Down" starts out with a steady beat and up-tempo guitars that will bring your close to head-banging with its Judas Priest vibe.  "Tiny" has a huge sound that belies the songs title,  The guitars stand tall above Mascis's clear voice.  "Be A Part" is where the true genius of this album becomes visible.  The guitars tingle, and the nostalgia swells as the hooks build up.  "I Told Everyone" and "Love Is..." are good rockers, and "Good To Know" could be Husker Du or The Replacements.  "I Walk For Miles" could be a Black Sabbath song, just like "Knocked Around" could be Iron & Wine until its snappy punk finale.

Really, I cannot rave enough about this album.  It rocks hard.  It rocks real.  It's like meeting that guy at a class reunion and realizing that, even after all these decades, he is as cool af.