Review:

on 2011-09-20 CharlesMartel Said:

The front cover has Ents on it. Ents I tell you! Ents carrying hobbits into the bargain. Could it be that Dinosaur Jr have gone all prog rock on us with an album rooted in Tolkeins masterpiece?

Thankfully, the answer is no. That just would not be Dinosaur Jr. would it? But the initial concern that such may be the case is perhaps rooted in some uncertainty concerning the bands fate and musical direction after the release of "Beyond". That album was an absolute cracker, in my opinion, far surpassing the work they did in their supposed heyday of the 1980s. But twenty years is a long time in rock music. People change and though the comeback album surprised many by giving the impression that the band had not been away at all, there can be no doubt that Mascis and co. certainly had changed. That begged the question as to whether the band would be able to keep up the pattern they had set with "Beyond". Or would they morph into a different sort of band, very different from the Dinosaur Jr. we have all come to know and love.

Well, rest assured. They haven't changed in that way, though changes are evident on "Farm" - but more of that later. "Farm" continues, musically, where "Beyond" left off. The first track of the album, "Pieces", undoubtedly the highlight, sets off as they mean to go on  a pounding riff, crashing guitars and more than a hint of the melody which, on tracks such as "This Is All I Came to Do" and "Almost Ready", made "Beyond" such an outstanding success. "I Want You to Know" follows with lumbering chords and a denseness that is impressive even for Dinosaur Jr.

But there is more to this than simply thrashing around with guitars. "I Don't Wanna Go There" has a middle section which would not feel out of place on a black metal album, while on "See You" Mascis even gets down and funky. Now that is definitely not what you expect from Dinosaur Jr. Of course, the guitar solos are excellent, but what is noticeable from the start is that some of the songs are slower paced, more languid than you might have expected. Also, unusually for the band, some of the numbers come in at well over six minutes in length. Yes, Dinosaur Jr have changed.

But it is in the lyrical department that the change is really noticeable. There is more than a hint of introspection, of soul-searching, dare I say of feelings of personal loss and regret about some of the lyrics. Try this from "Said the People":

"Can you tell me? Can you tell me what went wrong?
Guess I should have seen it coming all along.
Gotta fight it, I gotta be strong
Gotta be something
Can't let it drag on and on"

Now that is definitely not something you would have expected. Could it be that Masics is getting sentimental in his old age?

Well no, but change is very much the theme of this album. Clearly, whatever the success of "Beyond" the band couldn't really be expected to go on, unchanged, as if the hiatus of the nineties and early years of last decade had not happened at all. As a result, this comes across as very much a transitional album, though transition to what is not quite clear yet. In that sense, it does not match up to its immediate predecessor. It will be very interesting to see where the band go from here.
Rating: 7/10