A Post To Get Us Started: Album Reviews

Album Reviews: Dinosaur Jr.'s 'I Bet On Sky' and Morning Glory's 'Poets Were My Heroes'

To get this blog kicked off I'll begin with a couple of album reviews in the style of writing I'll be continuing with my future articles. Essentially I'm trying to surpass a traditional album review which just highlights it's musical pros and cons and try to get an angle at what the artist was perhaps trying to do with their finished work, and at the same time hopefully avoiding pointless existential bollocks. The second thing I can only say I'll try my best with. I'm not going to rate albums out of ten, and I'm probably not going to do that many reviews, either, instead provide some concise and (maybe) thoughtful essays on music current and classic.

Dinosaur Jr. – 'I Bet On Sky' (Jagjaguwar, September 13, 2012)

Dinosaur Jr.'s tenth album overall and sixth that features the original trio finds them following some similar paths as their last two releases (Farm, 2009 and Beyond, 2007) but also easing into a looser and more natural feel (something that certainly began on Farm). The first half of the album is probably the stronger half, starting with a brand new classic in the form of 'Don't Pretend You Didn't Know', a song that surprised me on first listen, and not due to the analogue synths, but due to the total absence of guitar solos, something it benefits from. Dinosaur's guitarist and primary singer, J. Mascis, has finally found himself not sticking to the formula he was known for so well in the 90's: "Generally my songs are just some riffs slung together as an excuse for a guitar solo." I Bet On Sky is a subtle album, a contrast to 2009's Farm, which was centred around Mascis' love for volume. While the album walks much familiar ground ('Watch The Corners' is a classic Dinosaur power-chord stomp and 'I Know It Oh So Well' is based around a wah-wah riff) it is a lot less heavy handed and pronounced than before and feels more natural, as mentioned before. It feels like Mascis is more comfortable with his instrument than ever, not needing to solo recklessly to fill out his songs as much, and allowing himself to just flow with the feel of the album. Lyrically, Mascis is still fairly vague, in an obvious way. You can tell most of the songs are about 'that certain someone' but his intentions are often obscured, helping the subject matter from becoming clichéd or trite. One of his problems in the 90's was an over-reliance on high-school-angst sounding lyrics about failing relationships or desire, but in the time that has elapsed since then he has developed a lot as human (including becoming a father). I think this album is very much born of Mascis' current state of mind, it sounds like he is at this moment in time (this is further illustrated by the fact he also produced it), clear, concise, focussed and willing to both try new things and also happy to stick to his guns. Would he agree that moments in his life such as becoming a father influenced the album? "Possibly no."

Bassist Lou Barlow contributes two fine songs with 'Rude' and 'Recognition'. 'Rude' is one of the albums most enjoyable moments, a very bluesy and rollicking tune, and when you compare his vocals here to say, 'Mountain Man' you can really see just how far he has come. 'Rude' is quite a surprising song, it's bouncy nature quite contrasting to the subdued feel of the overall album. Allmusic reviewer noted it is probably "[their] quietest record of their new millennium reunion" and that it "rarely roars with abandon", but this is not at all to it's detriment, I Bet On Sky is a mature and logical step forward for one of alternative (and for that matter any kind of) rock's most interesting and dynamic bands, and if you haven't heard them yet, now is certainly as good a time as any to give them a listen. Highly recommended for fans of the band (who'll have no doubt already heard it) and anyone else who enjoys good rock music.


Morning Glory – 'Poets Were My Heroes' (Fat Wreck Chords, August 28, 2012)

This is technically Morning Glory's first album, their first 'true' album, anyway: their last two major releases were a home-recorded album featuring just the principal musician and songwriter Ezra Kire (or Ezra Crack to some) and a drum machine, and a short E.P. recorded with a full band. After a long period of addiction to various substances, primarily heroin, Ezra (also known for his work with Choking Victim, Leftover Crack and INDK) decided to start cleaning himself up and returning to the life he loved, music. The themes on this album show this immensely: many songs are based around the concept of addiction, and the loss of loved ones or friends through suicide or addiction. Out of the two main songwriters of Choking Victim and Leftover Crack, Ezra was often the most anthemic, writing perhaps the song best known by any of the 'Crack Rock Steady' bands: Gang Control (originally on Morning Glory's first 'album' but re-recorded by Leftover Crack). He has stated before he is a fan of Noel Gallagher's songwriting, and while I can't agree with him on that, I can see where he is coming from: he writes songs to reach out and empower people; "the image of a room of people all singing together is one of the most powerful ideas to me." And while this album is centred around punk, the music soars and flies like classic rock. It is an epic album, complete with bugle horns, marching drums, piano, string sections; he had a vision, and he accomplished it. Personally I find some of the album not all that interesting but that isn't to say it is even near bad, it is just a very certain sound, but it's not a punk party album like his old band INDK's sole album is.

The album starts with a snippet of the first song he ever wrote, 'Stevie Dinner', a ZZ Top parody he wrote at a very young age about his father who drank so much "it was his dinner". Songs about addiction and its effects on those involved and their loved ones are instinctive to him, and some of the best songs on the album are quite dark portrayals of this, such as 'Shelter From The Spoon', although nothing here is quite as riotous or obvious as the easily misinterpreted 'Gimme Heroin' from their E.P. The Whole World is Watching. Ezra has stated he is not yet totally clean but the path to freedom is a long one, and this album has no doubt been a formative moment for him, a sign that he is no longer letting a drug completely control his life, even take away his love of playing music: on the contrary, the preparation of this album included him learning a new instrument, piano, and becoming proficient enough in it to play it on the album. While this album is hard to compare to his other work due to its thick layering of instruments and more 'concept album' feel, it stands along with INDK's Kill Whitey! as a great example of his interesting, melodic, anthemic punk rock. Recommended to fans of his earlier work, fans of punk, melodic or otherwise, and even if you are a punk purist it's never too late to find something new and interesting.