Reunion albums, let’s be honest, usually suck. They’re typically excuses to tour, although on rare occasion they may be the outcome of legitimate attempts at writing good music. (Keyword: “attempts.”) I needn’t point any further than The Stooges’ abysmal Weirdness, from 2007: an album that seemed like a genuine effort, and more than just a basic cash grab. A real album. This almost made its sub-par quality more insufferable than if Iggy and the boys had just slapped together a Greatest Hits compilation with a new tune or two and hit the road.
It was, as such, with great trepidation that I approached Dinosaur Jr.’s Beyond (also released in ’07). Bassist Lou Barlow had been out of the core lineup since 1989, when he was fired due to increasingly hostile clashes with guitarist/vocalist J Mascis; the new album followed a string of critical disappointments from Mascis and drummer Murph throughout the 1990s, and was shrouded with a palpable sense of both dread and excitement from indie rock circles.
But here’s the thing: Beyond rocked. Hard. It was one of the best albums of 2007, a surprisingly consistent and cohesive record that didn’t feel a year distanced from the sounds explored on the band’s masterpiece, You’re Living All Over Me. In fact, if anything, the album is underrated by fans; I can’t imagine anyone trying to argue that “Pick Me Up” doesn’t have one of Mascis’s best solos. The record was, as a whole, a delightfully fun and straightforward blast of rock n’ roll.
Farm continues that trend, and, dare I say, it’s even better than Beyond: there ain’t a bad song on here. Do some of them wander a bit? Sure; this is, after all, certifiable Slacker Music — Mascis has always had a tendency to drag his vocals lazily over the music, disaffected and distanced, and I’m not sure any Dinosaur Jr. album should be described as constrained or tightened. Farm‘s best moments come when Mascis cuts loose his inner Guitar Hero and shreds it all to hell. (Example? Take a listen to “I Don’t Wanna Go There,” the disc’s most ambitious and frighteningly epic song, which gradually builds into a sudden four-minutes-and-counting guitar solo, which is probably one of the best I’ve heard in years.)
And while on the subject of Mascis’s chops — how on earth does this dude’s voice still sound exactly the same as it did in the 1980s? As fans, we can count it as a blessing; it only helps blend the two eras of Dino’s history together without distraction. But it does prompt one to question whether he’s a modern marvel of science — I can’t think of any other singer in the rock world who hasn’t had an identifiable shift in their singing over the course of their career.
These are digressions. You want to know what the bottom line is, so here you go: Ultimately, everything here clicks, from the quality of the songs themselves to the tone the band achieves; these aren’t awkward footnotes to the group’s classics of yesteryear — they’re respectable extensions. Farm stands firm in its own right, as both a great album and a continuing return to form for a band that deserves its successes every step of the way.
Rating: 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Just a bit of pedantic quibbling — the '90s weren't marked by "critical disappointments" from Mascis. Green Mind and Where You Been? weren't just popularly successful, but were at least as enthusiastically received by critics as were Bug & You're Living All Over Me (I know — I was there). Hand It Over too was a great critical and artistic success, even though it didn't sell much.
There's too much lazy repetition out there on music blogs and magazine sites of the "J Lou Murph ruled, Dino sucked in the '90s, J Lou Murph rule again" rote narrative. It just ain't true. And no one ever talks about the two Mascis & the Fog albums, both of which are at least as good as Beyond.
I'm happy that the man and the band are getting the kudos and attention they deserve. But younger people especially are doing themselves a grave disservice if they skip '90s Dino and Mascis & the Fog simply because every blog and magazine tells them they should.
Thanks for the comment. "Green Mind," in particular, is a very good record. But the band moved increasingly towards becoming a Mascis solo act in the mid- to-late '90s; there isn't anything inherently wrong with that, but when he was left to his own vices writing all the songs and recording most of the instruments, you had to question whether this "band" still deserved to be labeled Dinosaur Jr.
By "critical disappointments," I was namely referring to "Without a Sound" and "Hand it Over" (the latter of which was a good album, but not the critical/artistic success you claim — the reviews written at the time of its release are still around, mind). None of their albums were ever generally dismissed by critics, but there was certainly a sequential drop.
I certainly don't think I was telling anyone to skip their '90s output altogether, and while I could have been clearer in my examples, I don't think it's unfair to imply the group struggled a bit – financially and critically – at varying points during the '90s.
(I do like the Fog albums, btw.)
Thanks for the comment. "Green Mind," in particular, is a very good record. But the band moved increasingly towards becoming a Mascis solo act in the mid- to-late '90s; there isn't anything inherently wrong with that, but when he was left to his own vices writing all the songs and recording most of the instruments, you had to question whether this "band" still deserved to be labeled Dinosaur Jr.
By "critical disappointments," I was namely referring to "Without a Sound" and "Hand it Over" (the latter of which was a good album, but not the critical/artistic success you claim — the reviews written at the time of its release are still around, mind). None of their albums were ever generally dismissed by critics, but there was certainly a sequential drop.
Ultimately, I don't think I was telling anyone to skip their '90s output altogether, and while I could have been clearer in my examples, I don't think it's unfair to imply the group struggled a bit – financially and critically – at varying points during the '90s.
(I do like the Fog albums, btw.)
I completely agree with your review… I am loving this album… I was floored after their 2007 show and can't wait to see em again
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