After three albums, tensions within Dinosaur Jr were coming to a head. The band was become increasingly popular, but the three members of the group could barely stand each other. Something had to give, and it did. Following a messy break-up, Dinosaur Jr reconvened for the awesome, Green Mind (1991). Though it was essentially a solo record by leader J Mascis, it stands as one of the best, if not the best Dinosaur Jr album to date. It’s about to be reissued in expanded form, and Dangerous Minds has the premiere of a previously unreleased recording from the set.
The original lineup of Dinosaur Jr consisted of drummer Murph, bassist Lou Barlow, and singer/guitarist J Mascis. The group formed in 1984, and from nearly the beginning, things were tense. They really started to get on each other’s nerves once Dinosaur started touring, and they had to be around each other for long stretches. Their personalities all clashed to varying degrees, and after a few years of strain, the relationship between Barlow and Mascis was becoming unsustainable. At an early 1988 club gig in Connecticut, an onstage incident revealed just how rotten the situation had become.
Murph, J, and Lou.
The chapter on Dinosaur Jr in Michael Azerrad’s book, Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes From the American Indie Underground 1981-1991, details what went down that night.
The place was far from packed and the band wasn’t playing very well. They were halfway through “Severed Lips” when Barlow began making feedback with his bass instead of playing the usual part.
“Lou’s sitting on the drum riser, just making noise through every song—this one note—and just trying to goad us, taunting us, basically,” says Mascis. “And I’m playing and I’m like, ‘I think Murph’s going to beat up Lou.’ And it goes on a little bit more and I’m thinking, ‘Yup, this is going to be bad, Murph’s going to beat up Lou.’ And I keep playing and I keep thinking that, and finally, I think, ‘Huh, I guess Murph’s not going to beat up Lou. I guess I’ll have to do it.’”
Mascis rushed across the stage and tried to hit Barlow with his guitar. Barlow raised his bass like a shield while Mascis bashed away at him repeatedly. (“It made a pretty good sound,” Mascis recalls somewhat fondly.) After a few failed bashed, Mascis stalked offstage yelling, “I can’t take it! I can’t take it!” Barlow called after hm, “Can’t take what, J? Asshole!” and raised his fists in triumph. “I got really psyched, like psychotically happy, and just went, ‘Yes!’ says Barlow. “I felt like he’d proved to me that he actually had feelings. He would never react to anything at all, ever.”
“I remember just sitting there at my drum set going, ‘OK, this is my perfect opportunity to pummel both of these guys,’” says Murph. “But instead I just walked off.”
Incredibly, the trio would continue for more than a year after that public band meltdown, but by mid-1989, Mascis wanted Barlow gone. He and Murph went to Lou’s house to tell him he was fired (Murph did nearly all of the talking), but by the time they left, Barlow was under the impression the band was breaking up. In reality, they already had a tour booked with another bass player, and a major label deal with Warner Bros. was in the cards. Lou heard about it all through the grapevine. In a final confrontation, he screamed at J and Murph for not telling him they were continuing. But then that was it. The original Dinosaur Jr was kaput.
Murph + J - Lou.
Dinosaur Jr’s first post-Barlow release was “The Wagon” 45, which came out on Sub Pop in 1990. For their next album, the group’s first after signing with Warner Bros., J, in addition to his usual guitar duties, would also play bass and take the drum stool for the majority of the tracks.
Barlow’s ousting allowed J the freedom to start over, to get out from under Dino’s wall of sound. They had become known for their thick and heavy songs, but there was always a great tune hiding amidst the murk, which was fully revealed on Green Mind (1991). The album is full of melodic, catchy tunes, a mix of full-on rockers like “The Wagon,” and mid-tempo tracks peppered with acoustic guitars, such as the Cure-ish “Puke + Cry,” along with quieter material, including the majestic “Thumb.”
Per usual, J’s guitar solos are epic here, but it’s his intricate drumming that really stands out. Mascis, who played the instrument in the pre-Dino hardcore band, Deep Wound, believes the drum arrangement is more important than what he does on guitar. From the beginning, when presenting a new tune, he’d show Murph how the drums should go—which didn’t make Murph happy and was a constant source of tension between the two (Murph is present on just a few tracks on Green Mind).
J’s lyrics frequently deal with alienation and a failure to connect with others, and seem autobiographical. Perhaps that’s why great lines like, “Ring the doorbell in your mind, but it’s locked from the outside,” and “There never really is a good time, there’s always nothing much to say,”—sung by J with trademark aloofness—come across so authentically.
To this brain, Green Mind is inarguably fantastic. It’s certainly my favorite Dinosaur Jr record.
Green Mind, along with the three others albums Dinosaur Jr put out in the ‘90s, are about to be re-released on vinyl and CD in deluxe editions. The Green Mind 2xCD reissue, for example, will include non-LP tracks from the era, along with a previously unreleased Hollywood show recorded live in 1991. The double LP has been pressed on, appropriately enough, green vinyl.
Cherry Red Records’ remastered and expanded Dinosaur Jr reissues arrive on September 27th. Pre-order Green Mind, Where You Been (1993), Without a Sound (1994), and Hand It Over (1997) via Cherry Red’s website, or get ‘em on Amazon.
Incidentally, Hand It Over was the final Dinosaur Jr record for a decade. By that time, the previously unthinkable was a reality—the original lineup had reunited. They’re still at it.
Dangerous Minds has the premiere of a blazing live rendition of “The Wagon” from the Green Mind reissue:
We’ll leave you to check out a multi-cam video of a Dinosaur Jr gig—with new bassist Mike Johnson, in tow—captured during the Green Mind tour.