Rating: NNNN
It’s rare to refer to Dinosaur Jr slacker extraordinaire J Mascis as energized, but after a brief retirement on the golf course, the longhaired noise-pop icon sounds utterly juiced on this overdue solo return.
More Light is back-to-basics Mascis. There are a couple of polite acoustic tunes, but this record is mostly about chugging tunes, groaned lyrics about trying to get out of bed and guitar sounds that can tear your head off. Guided by Voices’ Bob Pollard lends his voice occasionally and My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields was lured out of his London bedroom to turn up the volume. Shields knows how to frighten children with noise, and the airplane whoosh that runs through the title track sounds like a speaker-shredding sequel to MBV’s You Made Me Realize. It’ll hurt, but listen to it loud.MATT GALLOWAY
