album // Bug
Released in 1988 on Blast First for the UK,
Bug was Dinosaur Jr.'s third album and their only
release for Blast First. Along with Dinosaur Jr. and You're
Living All Over Me, Bug was re-released in 2005 on Sweet
Nothing Records as remastered editions. 1988 seems like a long time
ago in the evolution of indie music, but Bug to me still
sounds as refreshing and contemporary now as it did when I first
heard it ten years ago.
In time-honoured Blast First tradition, there is
little in the way of sleevenotes. The front cover is a mess of terracotta
hues, bold scrawled lettering and what appears to be an etching
of some strange creature. Inside the folded sleeve is a black and
white group photo of the threepiece - J Mascis (guitar and
vocals), Lou Barlow (bass and guitar) and Murph (drums).
Bug is a very accessible piece of indie rock,
a subversive guitar pop record of sorts characterised by clever
riffs, great hooks and a melodic singing style that belies their
labelling as 'slackers' - if this was a band who didn't try that
hard, as has often been claimed, their natural level was better
than most acts' best. Bug is, however, at times dragged into
muddy sonic territory and the mix is certainly rough as sandpaper,
but this is all part of its unique aural charm.
Instant gratification is delivered with the classic
'Freak Scene' single, an anthem of sorts to geekdom and the 'uncool',
a track which probably did more to create the slacker myth around
the band than either their unkempt look or Lou Barlow's frequent
dope consumption. The song kicks off with a distinctive jangly guitar
part before diving headlong into a heavy drum groove, over which
J layers a mixture of fuzzy electric guitar riffs and more subtle
acoustic licks, similarly providing grungy drawled vocals and passages
of harmonious falsetto. It shouldn't work, but despite its tendancy
toward wayward riffery, it stays glued together very well. 'No Bones',
on the other hand benefits from fairly stable melodic guitar layers
and pushes Barlow's mellow bass up in the mix, while Murph provides
a clever set of beats. 'They Always Come' is a fast-paced melodic
heavy rock track with a sensitive vocal and some chiming percussion;
it also includes a very prog breakdown,finding J's predilection
for classic rock coming to the fore, and ends with a superb mellow
bass-guitar-drums section at the very end.
'Yeah We Know' is a stand-out cut, a driving beat
and wah-wah guitar speeding it along all the while, while Mascis
provides a harmonious vocal and tender lyrics, at times sounding
like Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore. The lo-fi punk
of 'Let It Ride' cuts loose with spiky guitar riffs and a pounding
beat, and finds J drawling and slurring his way through the lyrics.
The upbeat 'Pond Song' switches between tender,
folky acoustic guitar and electric fuzz, with Murph laying down
a classic Ringo beat (double kick, double snare). 'Budge' finds
Murph pounding out rapidfire, muscular beats, while on the verses
J and Lou lock together in a manner reminiscent of the Youth's 'Teen-Age
Riot'. 'The Post' is a slowed-down metal epic - layers of grinding,
sludgy riffs, at times sounding like it could twist into a heavy
cover of Joy Division's 'New Dawn Fades'. Spadefulls of echo
and sonic abandonment characterise 'Don't', a noisy, cataclysmic
jam with plenty of in-the-red riffing and J growling 'Why don't
you like me?' - it's a dirty, gritty mess that feels like it's
never going to end. Not for the feint hearted.
Bug was and is a great record - simply produced
but executed with considerable passion by a band prepared to mine
guitar rock's best riffs at a time when it ws 'uncool' to do so.
It turned out to be their only album for Paul Smith's Blast
First imprint - shortly after, Smith tried to set up an American
offshoot of the label, and tried unsuccessfully to migrate some
of SST's biggest acts to his new US-domiciled label. He hadn't
expected so much loyalty among the likes of Butthole Surfers,
Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., and all had bolted from
the Blast First stable to fresh pastures within a very short while.
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