Dinosaur Jr – I Bet On Sky

As a rule, bands who reform after the kind of time Dinosaur Jr took off (1997-2005) shouldn’t make new albums. Would anyone really feel hard done by if Mascis et al rocked up to the occasional ATP, played ‘Freak Scene’, ‘Feel The Pain’ and ‘In A Jar’, took their money and went home? I’d argue not. But Dinosaur Jr are one of the few bands from their era to have reformed not only with new material in tow, but with new material that rates as some of the best they’ve ever put out. To do that once is remarkable. To now be on their third album of the stuff is, frankly, preposterous.

You’ll be pleased to hear also that I Bet On Sky sounds identical to anything else they’ve ever put out. And whereas that’s usually the kind of thing I’d lambast a band for, mocking their inability to push boundaries, envelopes or the boat out, something about Dinosaur Jr doing it feels wonderfully comforting. This really could have come out any time between now and their 1984 formation without anyone batting an eyelid. Perhaps the reason that’s so difficult to take issue with is that Lou, Murph and J are arguably the only people who can get away with making guitar rock that sounds quite like this; their contemporaries and legions who count them as an influence know that to try to copy this accurately would only lead to their sounding like a tired tribute act (though it hasn’t stopped some trying – hey there, Yuck!).

Given that Dinosaur Jr still do one thing and one thing only, whether a new record is a success or failure rests only on whether the songwriting is any good. And whilst there’s little here that’s likely to capture a zeitgeist in the manner that something like ‘Freak Scene’ could (times have moved on a little, even if Dino Jr haven’t), I Bet On Sky is in this respect a triumph of remarkably, consistently high quality songcraft. The fun starts with the wobbly synths (worry not, the guitars are still doing all the work) of the wistful ‘Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know’ feeling like a tender hug from a friend you’ve not seen since the mid nineties, before a meander through everything you know and love about Dinosaur Jr. Rasping, mind-wobbling guitar solos abound, as do some characteristically tender Lou Barlow numbers (‘Rude’ and ‘Recognition’), melodies so fine that they’ll take up home in your cranium despite the fact that they’re delivered almost wholly in Mascis’ trademark mumble (the upbeat romp of ‘I Know It Oh So Well’), and a few numbers like ‘Watch The Corners’ and ‘Pierce The Morning Rain’ (which sounds like Black Flag covering Neil Young, or vice versa… either way – yes!) where the band hit with more force than could ever be expected from any other bunch of greying dudes approaching their fiftieth birthdays.

In all, it’s as hugely fun to listen to as it sounds like it was to record, the album really being imbued with a sense of joy in creation that’s transferred effortlessly to the listener. That you want them to make another record, quickly, that sounds exactly like this one is not a conviction it’s easy to hold for a lot of bands. But it’s exactly what I Bet On Sky leaves you pining for.

Listen to I Bet On Sky