It’s difficult to be critical about Dinosaur Jr., so intimidating has their influence been since the band’s emergence in the late ’80s.
And their recent material’s hardly been met by indifference. 2007’s ‘Beyond’, which reunited the original line-up of J Mascis, Lou Barlow (who’d focused on Sebadoh after falling out with Mascis and leaving Dinosaur Jr. in 1988) and Murph, had every music critic and his dog drooling over themselves about their return to form. Ultimately it’s become incredibly easy to forgive their faults and assess any new product via references to past victories, rather than any current failings.
While the above may suggest otherwise, ‘Farm’ is not exactly a bad album. But there does seem to be a very fine line between Mascis’ lazily cool vocal style and simple tiredness, and there’s little of the energy here that exploded out of ‘Beyond’, particularly its pulse-raising opener ‘Almost Ready’. It’s difficult to tell what is missing, initially, before it becomes apparent that there is no real standout track to be found.
Opener ‘Pieces’ has a few decent hooks, but many of the other tracks across ‘Farm’ feel drained, as if the effort of recording has bled them of vibrancy, leaving them pale and anaemic. Things drift by and slowly begin to tail off, in what approaches Foo Fighters levels of empty guitar drudgery and unexciting, obligatory solos by the time proceedings reach ‘I Don’t Want to Go There’: a lengthy lesson (over eight minutes) in how to make astounding technical ability sound dull, serving as this record’s penultimate offering.
It’s a shame given how great Dinosaur Jr. have been, and how many people they’ve touched since their inception, but only current fans will find anything exciting in this new album. For the unconvinced or uninitiated, the group’s offering of nothing particularly new on a formula, and no conveyance of enthusiasm for the material, will see ‘Farm’ rank rather lower than genre classics ‘Bug’ and ‘You’re Living All Over Me’ in the band’s catalogue. (If you are new to Dinosaur Jr., do pick up both these records immediately – Ed)
This album is more than listenable, but maintaining undivided attention is a chore, making it something of a background soundtrack to other activities. In other words: a disappointment given the talents, and history, involved.
6/10
