A Massachusetts trio whose distorted guitar sound and mumbled vocals defined a particular kind of '80s and '90s alternative rock.
For that classic Dinosaur Jr push-and-pull, try "In a Jar" or "Start Choppin." They both have that loud-soft thing down.
They started in Amherst in 1984 with J Mascis on guitar, Lou Barlow on bass, and Murph on drums. Their first album came out the next year, and songs like "Freak Scene" and "In a Jar" built a sound around Mascis's heavily distorted playing and quiet, mumbled singing. That tension between noise and melody carried through to later tracks like "Feel the Pain" from 1988's "Bug."
After early lineup changes, they released "Green Mind" and "Where You Been" in the early '90s. Barlow left in the mid-1990s, but the original trio got back together in the 2000s and have been recording since, putting out albums like "Beyond" and "Farm." Their live shows are still known for being extremely loud.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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