Dinosaur Jr- Sweep It Into Space

Everyone knows Dinosaur Jr right? There’s the unlikelihood of Mascis and Barlow coexisting for very long. The improbability that new music from the band would be (maybe except a song or two) worthwhile. But here we are fifteen years and five albums in. If you could be exposed to only the band’s 21st Century output, you still no doubt would be in awe of them. My comment on the current band still stands for the new record Sweep It Into Space. It sounds as if J, Lou and Murph can just step into a studio and effortlessly crank out 12 tunes that sound just like a Dino Jr album. For example, I’m not sure if I Met The Stones is metaphorically talking about the planets or a blog entry about Mick and Keef. Which is my problem with the current incarnation of the band. I don’t find the songs particularly memorable (this album even less so than the prior) and though maybe catchy choruses were always secondary, this is the band who gave us The Wagon and Feel The Pain. But at the end of the day, I don’t have a problem putting this album on and slipping away for 40 minutes. A lot has been made about Kurt Vile being in the producer’s chair. I don’t really know that I notice much difference but Mascis’s guitar does sound good and has a robust sound.