Dinosaur Jr., 'Farm'

Release date: June 23, 2009
Record label: Jagjaguwar
Official Web site: http://www.dinosaurjr.com/

The buzz: After turning the synth-dominated '80s back onto the guitar and inspiring everyone from Nirvana to My Bloody Valentine, peerless power trio Dinosaur Jr. fractured in the late ‘90s as guitarist J. Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow—who founded lo-fi champs Sebadoh in 1987—and drummer Murph succumbed to interpersonal drama. While crushing '80s efforts like "You're Living All Over Me" and "Bug" redefined rock's sound, the band’s phenomenal, mostly-Mascis '90s releases such as "Green Mind," "Where You Been" and "Without a Sound" crossed over and even charted. But Dinosaur Jr. were thought to be extinct (sorry, couldn’t resist) until 2007, when Mascis, Barlow and Murph buried the axe, reunited and released "Beyond."

The verdict: "Farm" is formulaic Dinosaur Jr.—Mascis’ melodic but pounding distortion and cooed whine, Murph’s thrashed drums, Barlow's chugging bass—but in this case, that’s a good thing. Openers "Pieces" and "I Want You to Know" explode out of the gate, while the stately "Plans" unfurls like a freak flag. Barlow steps to the microphone at last on the angular weirdness of "Your Weather" and "Imagination Blind." And the band gets positively epic on the subtle sweep of "Said the People" and the deafening "I Don't Wanna Go There." All told, it's a blazing comeback, proving that "Beyond" was no one-night stand.

Did you know? These days, when he’s not back at the helm of Dinosaur Jr., Mascis moonlights as the drummer for a sludge metal band called Witch.

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