It’s hard to imagine any type of band being hurt much worse than one like Dinosaur Jr., the fuzzcore heroes who practically come served with a sticky carpet and large dose of tinnitus. J.Mascis and crew have been leaving audiences happy, sweaty and bruised for coming up on four decades now, so picturing them on the wrong side of lockdown, at home and in isolation, borders on an act of cruelty.
And yet Sweep It Into Space manages to both reconnect them with an audience which may have found other pleasures since 2017’s Give A Glimpse of What Yer Not (OK, maybe not) whilst proving that sometimes getting away from the daily bullshit of the music industry grind is probably no bad thing at all.
Mascis once again shares songwriting duties with Lou Barlow, the latter contributing the quietly diffident Garden in the guise of providing a hugely divided America with a path to reconciliation. It’s the lead singer who grabs the spotlight though, howling “I ain’t good alone” on the album’s opener and veering towards familiar Neil Young-esque territory on I Ran Away, aided and abetted by indie stalwart Kurt Vile. That’s not all though, as Take It Back messes with psychedelia and closer You Wonder jacks up on his inner Blue Oyster Cult.
Ready for work, Sweep It All Into Space is a Dinosaur Jr. ready to crack skulls and blow amps again whenever the green light shows.
You can read a full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 