J Mascis – Several Shades of Why

J Mascis was long known for being one of the loudest dudes in indie rock, or ‘Alternative’, as it was called at the time. His signature Fender Jazzmaster caused many an eardrum to bust in his seminal band, Dinosaur Jr., but in the good way. So, knowing nothing of his solo works, I had the volume knob turned way, way down. I was waiting for the record to start, thinking there was some long, teasing intro before my ears were guitarsmashed into my head, but after tentatively turning up the volume to a reasonable level, I realized that J had gone quiet. This is as delicate and restrained a record as they come. Gently plucked acoustic guitar, lilting string arrangements, and even the electric guitar’s appearance quiet(ish). It reminds very much of fellow ’90s ear-basher Thurston Moore’s recent Trees at the Academy, the difference being that Moore’s roots are in noisy experimentalism (which he can’t shake), whereas Mascis’ lie in good old fashioned rock ’n’ roll in the vein of Neil Young. He is very much doing a reverse Neil Young here, switching gain-heavy distortion for intimate, acoustic-driven introspective pieces, which are okay but show more promise than anything else. A pleasant listen for Dinosaur Jr. fans who hold some sentimentality in J’s moany voice, or fans of nice stuff. It’s really nice. (Sub Pop, www.subpop.com) David Nowacki