My girlfriend went back to Ohio for her sister’s wedding, and I was given the task of watching her dog,
Lemmie, who has been suffering from severe separation anxiety and has basically been acting like a jerk whenever I went in to the studio and left him alone in the apartment; basically pissing and shitting all over the apartment. So I finally decided to just take him into the studio with me, knowing that he would probably be good when people are gawking over him. I was right! The Korean girls were all over him and took turns walking him by the river, and I think that he was a little happier after that.
J. Mascis and The Fog More Light (Ultimatum/Artemis, 2000)
So yeah, there may not be a whole lot of stylistic differences between this and the last couple of
Dinosaur Jr. albums,
Hand it Over and
Without a Sound, but
More Light is easily stronger and tighter than the pair; benefiting from the new escapist and atmospheric moniker of "The Fog."
Guided By Voices’
Bob Pollard has made it a fact of his love for Dinosaur’s great early albums, and here joins his indie-peer on a trio of songs with long solos (let ‘em burn slow forever, man). The opening power-anthem, “Sameday,” is cut from the cloth of the W
here You Been classic “Out There,” but is a little sadder, yet more melodic, and far less reliant on layers of guitar sludge (although there is still plenty of it here); kicking off a string of hook-heavy songs the only way that Mascis can do them. The recording excellent articulates the power (“More Light,” “Back Before You Go,” and “Where’d You Go”) and the delicacy (“Does the Kiss Fit,” “Ammaring,” “Wasitin,” and “All the Girls”) of Mascis’ guitar prowess; creating an album that is less schizophrenic than
Hand It Over, and far more exciting than
Without a Sound.
The absolute killer on
More Light is Mascis’ collaboration with
My Bloody Valentine’s reclusive aural-hobbit
Kevin Shields on the titular closing track. The drums drive along a coastal highway penetrating the white-noise and winds, while Mascis’ distorted worried warble makes way for the most infectiously simple and beautiful falsetto refrain: “
I’ll… Be… There!” The tough promise during the most trying times, the wind against your back, onward and upward, and bring on his next album
Free So Free; it seems as if Mascis had finally decided to lighten up his “do-it-myself” ego, which had marred the great negative spirit of Dinosaur’s classic line-up, and enjoy making some crushing and melodic guitar albums. I can’t wait for the new Dinosaur Jr. album that’s currently in the works; Mascis might be losing his mind, but it’s also evident that he has always been capable of delivering some of the most punishing hardcore/psychedelic/pop/metal music ever written. After hearing the final minute of “More Light,” you can start to understand why he toured with
the Stooges immediately after his tour to support
this fucking fantastic album.
