STACK NZ August 2016 Issue 76

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Faith No More
We Care a Lot (Deluxe Edition)
Now available on double vinyl and CD with
extra tracks, demos, live versions and remixes,
this impressive 1985 debut – before Mike
Patton took over vocal duties from soon-
to-depart Chuck Mosley – hit a midpoint
between US punk, funk metal and indie.rock. With a dollop of
cynical humour (the title track alluding to consciousness-raising and
ever-so caring rock stars with “it's a dirty job but someone's got to
do it”) and punchdown beats, it sometimes sounded closer to the
Beastie Boys' take on rap than hard rock. Even today it remains an
outsider album, a kind of mutant take on hard rock which flirts with
experimentation and dance (Arabian Disco). Fans who only know
their more recent catalogue might be in for a surprise. It's very old
now but still contains the shock of the new.
Pink Floyd
Meddle
Although there's no “little-
known” Pink Floyd album
(the soundtracks More
and Obscured by Clouds
perhaps?), some early ones
went past those who tuned in
at Dark Side Of The Moon. This
from 1971 is a bridge between
their experimental work
and Dark Side (just over the
horizon and hinted at on the 23
minute Echoes). Now available
on vinyl (with half a dozen
others between Atom Heart
Mother and The Final Cut), it
is a pleasant, deep immersion
in their dreamscapes and
cautiously constrained prog.
And San Tropez is an un-Floyd
pop song.
REM
Lifes Rich Pageant
Has it really been 30
apostrophe-missing years? This
from 1986 was where REM
made the leap from college
radio and into mainstream
attention. Their first gold album,
delivering crackling rock songs
(the stuttering and political Begin
the Begin, the urgent These
Days, Hyena, the punky Just a
Touch ), instantly familiar pop (I
Believ e) and the ballad Fall On
Me. They were smart, ready and
possessed, with just a touch
of swagger. Available now on
vinyl alongside the 1987 rarities
collection Dead Letter Office
and their then “hits” collection
Eponymous.
visit
28 AUGUST 2016
MUSIC
By Graham Reid
Bug (1988)
Although You're Living All Over Me from the previous year
was enormously influential (on grunge and indie rock bands
in the '80s and early '90s), this third album breakthrough
wound up the jangle, noise, pop and folk-rock. Very
accessible. The last of the original line-up with Barlow.
Green Mind (1991)
NewYork rock critic Robert Christgau was never a fan and
dismissed this as "grunge on pot" – which it may well be.
But it is also (aside from being all but a Mascis solo album
after Barlow's departure) a pretty thrilling ride of reductive
rock and Mascis' take on country-rock. Flying Cloud is a
lovely dreamy ballad. On pot, of course.
Hand It Over (1997)
The last before the lengthy break, this collapsed pop, metal-
noise, massive chords and Mascis' own take on slacker
folk-rock (as unique as Neil Young's, whose spirit is conjured
up on Alone) with colour from strings and horns, and some
guest singers. Recommended.
I Bet On Sky (2012)
From their second life (Barlow back in the ranks), this
showed they'd lost none of their fire power and power-rock
(Rude) but it also embraced their widescreen folk-rock
(Almost Fare which Cobain might have admired and sung)
and Mascis' archetypal melancholy (Stick A Toe In). Either a
return to form or them revisiting old tropes. You decide.
Hard to believe, but Dinosaur Jr first formed
over 30 years ago.They've been helmed by sole
constant, singer-guitarist J. Mascis – although
co-founder and bassist Lou Barlow, who left
after the first five years, rejoined when the
band was resurrected after an eight year hiatus
ending in late 2005. A long and productive
career... so where to start?
DINOSAUR Jr.
And also...
Mascis' solo career has presented some interesting albums, notably Free So
Free (2002, with The Fog) and Tied To Star (2014). Barlow's career with the
lo-fi Sebadoh and Folk Implosion are worth checking out, especially Sebadoh.
For more interviews, reviews and overviews from Graham Reid visit