Dinosaur Jr. – Farm (2009)

Dinosaur Jr. is one of the loudest bands ever. The trademark of their music is sharp and aggressive overdriven electric guitars and piercing solos. The frontman J Mascis has pretty much written all the songs and he plays the lead guitar and sings. So, he basically is the band. His vocals are fairly laconic and lazy, which is a nice contrast to the aggressive sound of the songs. Farm is the band's first album released by Jagjaguwar record label that has produced numerous fantastic indie records in the last couple of decades. The songs are a bit more approachable than the songs on their 90s and especially 80s albums, but the same general elements are still there. The album cover is one of the coolest ever. The green giant ents are carrying children away from the polluted city. I feel like Dinosaur Jr. has always had bit of an environmentalist approach in their music.



I bought the album on vinyl fairly soon after its release. The album cover looks even more spectacular on vinyl. Now, I mentioned in the beginning of this post that Dinosaur Jr. is one of the loudest bands out there. This album is even louder, since the original European version has a mastering error which means that it has been mastered 3db too loud. Whenever I'm listening to songs on shuffle on my phone, these songs really explode the eardrums when they come on after some quieter songs.

In the recent years, J Mascis has started making more acoustic solo albums, which I really like, because they have his familiar vocals and music writing style, yet those more acoustic songs are easier to listen to at home. Then again, when the time is right for something louder, Dinosaur Jr. really hits the spot. Even though Farm is probably not among the most appreciated albums by Dinosaur Jr., in my personal list, it goes close to the top in the band's albums.

The album kicks in with a fantastically energetic song Pieces. The power chords accompany piercingly sharp lead guitars that wail along with Mascis' trademark vocals. This is a proper hit song and the riffs are absolutely fantastic. I Want You to Know continues with guitars that sound almost like a Harley-Davidson engine. This sound is a bit closer to grunge of the early 90s and alternative rock of the late 80s. Ocean In the Way has a lazy rhythm, but the guitars punch loud. I really like the contrast between relaxed tempos and really aggressive sounds. Plans is one of my favourite songs on the album. It starts with slightly psychedelic guitars that remind me of Sonic Youth, but then the song evolves into a properly melodic rock song with excellent riffs and almost a catchy melody. Your Weather has a more garage rock type of sound and the vocals are also a lot sharper in this song, because they're sung by Lou Barlow, the bass player of the band. He also wrote this song. There's something similar to Queens of the Stone Age in this song. Over It brings again the signature guitar solos of J Mascis to the forefront. There's a proper power pop intensity in this song. Friends has one of the best opening riffs on the album and throughout the song the rhythm guitar section is quite brilliant. This is how you really play rock. Said the People could also be called a ballad even if the overdriven guitars are buzzing here as well. The melancholic melody and laconic vocals sound more like Mascis' solo albums. There's No Here pumps up the energy again and the guitar solos sound fantastic. There are similarities to early 90s hard rock songs in this one. See You has a playful and almost happy style which is just slightly shaken by the very thick guitar solo sound. I Don't Wanna Go There is an ambitious almost 9 minute rock anthem with some amazing guitar playing and vocals that sound like the golden age of grunge. The album ends with another Barlow song Imagination Blind, which doesn't really seem equal to the rest of the material on this album.

As I've mentioned before in this post, there's something very 90s about this album even if it was released in 2009. The music video for Over It magnifies this image. There's a lot of skateboarding and fooling around with a bicycle in the video. I feel like there's something really 90s in skateboarding especially when it's accompanied by hard overdriven guitars. There are some quite amazing tricks in the video.

I don't really intentionally listen to this album that much anymore which is a bit of a shame. I feel like whenever I write these posts here, I truly enjoy the albums I'm writing about. I guess I should just really try and listen to full albums a lot more than just using shuffle on my phone. It's just so easy not to choose yourself. Anyway, Farm is one of the best Dinosaur Jr. albums, especially in their later career.

Listen to the album on Spotify.