Down on the Farm!!!

It's around the time for the year end lists that everyone creates. I am no exception, but this year it's a little tough. I mean in years past I can quickly pick 10 albums and tell you how great they were. There are a few this year of note, but the one that keeps playing on my Ipod and in the car is the new Dinosaur JR.

I have been a fan since the late 1980's. I never went to there shows till I was of age, but I wish I could have seen them when they first started out. I think what started my fascination with Dino JR is the fact that they are loud. J. Mascis loves things cranked up to 11. He likes the feedback and I know that he loves the Neil Young.

What makes this album stand out for me in 2009 is the fact that after listening to the 2007 album Beyond, which I also picked in 2007 I could only hope that they would get better. I went to a few of the shows. Watching J, Murph, and Lou B. It's total chemistry. They really have fun playing. I also would run into J. Mascis at shows and buy him a beer and we talk about what we were watching, but I also ask him about music. He seemed very happy how the reformed Dino JR was going. He told me about how the chemistry just clicked. He told me also it's fun playing with old friends.



I told him back that I really like the rawness of the early albums. He laughed and agreed. I told him if you can do that, and capture it to tape then you might just have a winner. I think he understood and with Farm he has it.

Farm is a great album to show off to all your friends. It's not technical, but it has a lot of fun. The fun comes in with all the looseness that they are having. When I saw them this summer touring for Farm I noticed that they know what each is doing. There are no cues, but good old fashion fun. That is what lacks in albums these days. In the albums I listened to from 2009 most of them sounded serious and planned out. Farm does not have that at all.



I am glad that Dinosaur JR is back with this album. It proves that you can work and make something enjoyable. J's playing is amazing and he sounds like he has not lost a thing. Lou keeps the groove down and Murph just does what Murph does best, he plays great drums with out being complex and just hit's those skins like nobody else.

If want an album that will tear down all ideas of what "rock" should be, then you have your album. This is an album that has great sound of classic Dino JR; and also sounds like something from the 70's. Enjoy what made Dino JR a favorite for a lot of people in the 80's and early 90's.