Dinosaur Jr: I Bet On Sky

Dinosaur Jr: I Bet On Sky

2012

Jagjaguwar Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Don't Pretend You Didn't Know  2. Watch the Corners  3. Almost Fare  4. Stick a Toe In  5. Rude  6. I Know It Oh So Well  7. Pierce the Morning Rain  8. What Was That  9. Recognition  10. See It on Your Side



Holy cow.. I was doing some heavy math today and found out I'm going to be 38 years old today...Can that be right?! I demand a recount! I haven't decided exactly how I'm going to celebrate  my birthday yet....I was thinking of going out to Monkey Pants...

 They're the only bar in town that:

a.  Isn't overcrowded on a Friday Night...

 and  b. Isn't so divey that it would drive away everyone I know...Not to mention they have those fried cheese curd thingies that are awesome as long as you don't mind waking up at 3 am with explosive diarrhea...

On the other hand just plain ol' picking up a ton of beer and spending the night at home spinning records sounds pretty appealing too...

Actually, let's do that...I'm going to spend my birthday with you guys and we're going to listen to "I Bet On Sky"...

 This is the third album after the band's absurdly unexpected 2007 reunion...As a quick listen to a couple of Sebadoh albums it was apparent that Lou Barlow still held a considerable amount of animosity towards J, but apparently a hatchet was buried somewhere along the way, cos here they were...J, Lou and Murph standing on stage together, collaborating on new albums...

\

I used to own "Beyond" but I realize I must have lost it somewhere along the way...Killer album...I was anxious to hear what the reunited Dinosaur was going to sound like...Would they pick up where "Bug" left off or would it continue the "Major Label" era sound? It turns out it was about 50/50...Definitely heavier than where they left off but more tuneful and mature than the SST era...I should try to find a replacement copy of this...I used to enjoy it...



I never heard "Farm" because I've never found a copy that was reasonably priced...It seemed like every record store I went to was selling this for around the $17 mark...Nuh uh...I always keep my eyes peeled for a used copy, though...Mostly for that beautiful cover...

"I Bet on Sky" is the 3rd album of the reunion era and it kind of reminds me of what "Green Mind" would have sounded like with the original line up...It has that similar feel: Kind of mellow...Kind of funky...But unlike "Green Mind" there isn't really a "Wagon"-level show-stopper...I guess maybe "Pierce the Morning Rain" might fit that bill...It's one of those classic Dino songs that starts off sounding like it's going to be hardcore  but subtly shifts into anthemic indie rock without nothing too drastic happening, which I always thought of as a neat trick...

But really, the whole thing is like this vast plateau where there are neither standouts nor lesser tracks...Just a big, warm, all enveloping sound ...Sort of a hazy, relaxed, end of summer record with a bit of fall color seeping in..You can practically see the leaves turn gold during the wide-screen weeper "Stick a Toe In," so you better grab yerself a rake and make yourself a quick five bucks...

Oh yea...I love Lou's contributions...It's fun to finally hear the Sebadoh sound being fully integrated into the Dinosaur Jr thing...Man, if this shit would have came out during my college years my damn head might have exploded in a violent display of college-rock nerdiness...

"DER...A DINOSAUR JR ALBUM WITH A COUPLE OF SEBADOH SONGS ON IT..."

KA-BOOM!!!

 Anyway...It's Friday night and the birthday clown is scheduled to show up anytime now, so let's stop the blogging and get to beer-ing...Here's "Pierce the Morning Rain" by Dinosaur Jr...Happy Friday everyone!