Dinosaur Jr.

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• Genre: Noise Pop
• Hometown: Amherst
• Dinosaur Jr. Website

About

Many folks believe that Dinosaur Jr were responsible for bringing Classic Rock influences to the Indie Rock realm. From the band's earliest works (when Sebadoh's Lou Barlow was still involved and the "Jr" had yet to be tagged onto the band's moniker) to their more recent releases, Dinosaur Jr have always featured a blistering, tube-burning, fed-back lead guitar layered over sonic landscapes. Following Barlow's publicly melodramatic departure, Dinosaur Jr began to grow in a more interesting way: the music matured toward well-crafted song arrangements and slack-anthem melodies and left behind the Punk-influenced temper tantrums. Frontman and six-string strangler J. Mascis is the core of Dinosaur Jr -- his lackadaisical voice and enervated vibe breathe character into the band's gritty tones. With his high-pitched crooning and leads that break up when the pick hits the string, Mascis has been dubbed by many the bastard son of Neil Young.

- Chris Slater