REVIEW: Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky

Dinosaur Jr.’s therapist should step forward and accept some hearty congratulations. This is a band whose early camaraderie had so deteriorated by the late 80s that they were literally beating each other up on stage. When bassist Lou Barlow left to focus his efforts on his other band, Sebadoh, he made no secret about his dislike for his former band mate, frontman J Mascis (see: the Sebadoh tune “The Freed Pig”). Mascis had also alienated Dino Jr.’s original drummer, Murph, by insisting that he should play drum parts that Mascis had written rather than letting Murph play in his own style.

So when the band’s original lineup reformed in 2005 there was obvious enthusiasm tempered with a resigned no-way-this’ll-last skepticism. Yet here we are, seven years into Dinosaur Jr. v.2, and they’re still cranking out excellent music, including their third post-reunion album I Bet On Sky. It’s instantly recognizable as a Dinosaur Jr. album; the classic rock-meets-Black Sabbath-meets-Crazy Horse guitars and Mascis’ mopey, disinterested vocals are all present and accounted for. But small flourishes creep up to keep things interesting.

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LIVE: Sebadoh @ The Black Cat - 8/10/12

About halfway through Sebadoh’s performance last Friday, Lou Barlow remarked “It gets to be a long night for the band when your band members are also the openers.” While that statement may be true – it was in fact a long night – it was far from a complaint or condemnation. Presenting a triple bill of sorts, Barlow is currently touring the country with old friend’s bassist/guitarist Jake Loewenstein and drummer Bob D’Amico, and together the trio makes up the classic lineup of lo-fi pioneers Sebadoh. But much like that the end result of that project was always steadfastly equal to/reflective of the sum of its parts, so was the group’s performance at The Black Cat.

First up, Jake Loewenstein and Bob D’Amico took the stage under the moniker of Circle of Buzzards. The duo’s style, Loewenstein’s in particular, is aggressive and loud. Hidden behind sunglasses and a reversed bandana, the usually warm and funny Loewenstein manhandled his overly distorted bass through a quick set of aggressive basement jams that were as potent as they were unpolished and direct. In short, it was exactly what the audience came for.

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