Review of ‘There Near’, the thirteenth album by Dinosaur Jr.

No news, good news. Everything on the new album from J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph sounds resoundingly familiar. And consistent: the most important thing. It is the sixth they have published since they reunited in 2005. And the thirteenth in their discography: they are about to equal and surpass in number those they published in their imperial phase, between 1985 and 1997. The tremendous thing is that they are going to achieve it without lowering the qualitative bar, although at this point they are no longer going to be precursors of anything nor will they surely be able to add inexcusable moments to a hypothetical compilation.

Yes, a certain recovery of its more direct vein can be seen here. More expeditious, more pop or less recharged, so to speak. Perhaps it has something to do with Mascis’ decision to rescue a Mesa Boogie MK 1 amplifier from the 1970s, the same model that Chris Dixon used in the recording of the dinosaur’s first (self-titled) album in 1985. Perhaps it also has something to do with Barlow’s decision to resurrect the same distorted shortwave radio sound that he recorded during the 1987 European tour, for a specific moment. The fact is that everything is as recognizable as it is comforting. Although this time they add Ken Mauri’s piano in a couple of cuts: it is practically inaudible, as was Kurt Vile’s guitar in its predecessor, “Sweep Into Space” (2021).

“Several Got Away” It’s a book single. The bittersweet “Not Friends” refers to the era of the outstanding “Where You Been” (1993). “Gone Off” brings back memories of his Massachusetts lineage: its beginning winks at the Buffalo Tom of “Tree House” and its chorus could have been signed by Evan Dando. and songs like “Everything At Once”, “Walk Me Back”, “Read The Room” either “Clam Along” They stand out from now on among the most openly pop things they have ever done, whatever that means in the midst of the electric tangle unleashed by the power trio. As if that were not enough, the two Lou Barlow songs, “Blowin’ Up” and “No Ones Ready”, They fulfill their mission: they melodically degrease, oxygenate and provide their punctual dose of realism in counterpoint to Mascian crypticism, with texts that allude to the governmental rot of the United States and the stench of social networks, which feed it so much. In short: give eight stars out of ten to a review of an album from the tell us It is as predictable as it is inevitable. That’s how it is.