This Dinosaur Leaves a Monstrous Footprint

For any of you music aficionados out there who miss that swath of '90s era music makers who dedicated themselves to furthering the craft of producing sounds wrapped around beefy drum passages, snarling guitars, and stories of disenfranchised alienation consider yourselves freshly smooched by Lady Luck. Dinosaur Jr. is returning with a new album September 18th entitled "I Bet on Sky". It's their first effort since 2009's "Farm". When J Mascis and friends closed up shop in 1997 their absence left a distinct void in the alt-rock universe. Their music pulsated with the sort of uncompromising rock college radio at its finest could claim to present to the rest of the world at large. First up from "Sky" is "Watch the Corners" which proves how harshly melodious the Dino sound is when all three members (bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph being the hefty supporting players to J Mascis's drone vocals) have rediscovered how to get on the same page. J doesn't just work over his fretboard. He fills it with a sawed off snarl that communicates his emotional detachment. Murph barrels ahead through the sonic attack with beats that never let you forget you're staring squarely into the eye of an emotional hurricane that, like the more costly natural disasters of note, takes its own sweet time burrowing into your spine. Lou Barlow's bass playing ensures the song operates from an intense power bass. If anyone out there feels thwarted by a universal plan that was set in motion long before you were even a gleam in your buxom mother's eyes take heart because J feels your pain. Again Dinosaur Jr brings the heat with a jam that will have college and rock radio taste makers declaring themselves on notice that one of the 1990s indelible musical trios is shaking up complacency again.