via Sub Pop Records

Sebadoh.

​The staggering gamut of cred Lou Barlow boasts in the hardcore, post-punk, lo-fi and indie rock realms toes past the line of the ridiculous and the legendary. In the early '80s, Barlow obliterated his guitar in the cataclysmic Massachusetts hardcore band Deep Wound before breaking off with J Mascis to form the monumental Dinosaur Jr. Three classic and enormously influential Dinosaur LPs of orgasmic sludge-rock brilliance that helped shape underground rock followed before Barlow was acrimoniously dumped by Mascis.

After that, the liberated and bitter Barlow ("The Freed Pig," anyone?), along with multi-instrumentalist and old friend Eric Gaffney and Jason Loewenstein, transformed his lo-fi bedroom project Sebadoh into a full-time killer rock hellion, embodying the slacker geekdom of '90s indie rock with Pavement and Guided by Voices. In recent years, Barlow has returned to the Dinosaur Jr. fold, and Sebadoh has been touring as well.

Sound of the City spoke to Barlow while he was in Los Angeles putting the finishing touches on his self-released reissue of 1990's Weed Forestin, as well as prepping for more gigs with both Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh.

More >>

​One of the more surreal moments in television history happened one superlate evening in 1989, when Sonic Youth appeared on the avant-garde-leaning music program Night Music on the severely avant-lacking NBC network. With downtown skuzz buddy Don Fleming playing SY's "manager on keyboards"—as introduced by easy-listening saxdork/host David Sanborn—they ripped "Silver Rocket" and the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Yr Dog" new assholes on national TV.

Fleming put his stamp on underground rock long before that night, though—first in D.C. and in Half Japanese, then downtown from the mid-80's and throughout the 90's. His psych-surf quirksters Velvet Monkeys were actually hot shit in D.C. as Minor Threat led the hardcore charge and Dischord became all the rage. Fleming eventually brought the Monkeys' kitschy pop to NYC and became a staple at CBGB and the old Knitting Factory. At the same time, he teamed up with Shimmy Disc honcho Kramer for art-noisemongers B.A.L.L., who upon disbanding, hilariously morphed into the grungy pop-freak group Gumball.

Ensconced in the scene with the SY folks and fellow cronies like Pussy Galore/Action Swingers/Free Kitten art-punker Julia Cafritz, Fleming collaborated with Thurston Moore on various projects (including the Richard Hell-fronted Dim Stars and the supergroup that provided music for the 1994 flick Backbeat), initially produced SY's major-label debut Goo, joined Dinosaur Jr for a second and recorded LPs by Hole, Screaming Trees, Teenage Fanclub, and The Posies.

Now Fleming is back with the digital reissue of Velvet Monkeys '81 cassette-only debut Everything is Right and a brand-new EP featuring Kim Gordon, Cafritz, and R. Stevie Moore. Sound of the City caught up with Fleming by phone while he took a break from his day job at the Alan Lomax archives.

More >>

Dinosaur Jr., Fucked Up, Off
Terminal 5
Thursday, June 23

Better than: You and your friends sitting around, telling each other how much you appreciate each other.

Keith Morris is a founding member of both Black Flag and The Circle Jerks, the co-author of a song called "World Up My Ass," and a pioneering reason why anyone gives a shit about anyone else on this bill. He is also an unfailingly polite punk legend, thanking the audience for arriving early and then introducing each of the musicians in his new group OFF!, which includes lifers Mario Rubalcaba, drummer for Hot Snakes/Rocket From The Crypt, and Steve McDonald, bassist for long-running LA alt-pop group Redd Kross. The two played with a frenetic precision likely born of some formative years jamming along with prime Circle Jerk material. On guitar was Dimitri Coats, whose band The Burning Brides were the third- or fourth-best group (not as good as Cave In, perhaps better than The Icarus Line) in the highly populated category of "early-naughts underground bands whose chance at mainstream popularity was doomed by label woes."

Coats hung in there after the Brides' label fell apart, getting side gigs and production work that led him to working with Morris on a potential new Circle Jerks album. That project fell apart, but the pair then formed OFF!, whose EPs and live show find a renewed Morris attacking his vocals with a viciousness that shames most young punks, and Coats boiling down his textured, arena-sized riffs down to bite-size blasts of white noise. OFF! ripped into a set that was equally fueled by fury and the joy that, after all this time, people still want to see these guys do their thing.

More >>

If you're lucky, he'll shout out his wad.

J Mascis's career has been fairly consistent. Even during the time Dinosaur Jr. had disbanded, he kept busy with his solo project, making sure that every couple of years we got a fresh dose of yearning-to-connect vocals and brontosaurus-sized fuzz-guitar. His long-suffering publicists have also made sure that we've had a steady supply of stilted, strained interviews. Because you demanded it, faithful reader, here's Five More Awkward J Mascis Interviews. And before you asked, we searched high and low for that infamous Kennedy MTV debacle, but alas we could not find a working video. (Have one? Drop it in the comments section.) But fear not, there's still plenty of uncomfortable chats to relive.

More >>

What do you think about when you're doing your guitar solos? "Oh, you know, what's for dinner and...very weird thoughts."

Let us not ask too much of J Mascis. The Dinosaur Jr. frontman has given us much already: classic albums, amazing videos, monster solos befitting the name Dinosaur Jr, scientific proof that not all post-reunion albums need suck. And now, he's also given us a lovely acoustic album, Several Shades Of Why and accompanying solo tour.

Fortunately/unfortunately, Mascis has not given the world a great deal of interviews to support his new project. Which is something of a loss, because as the good people at the AV Club pointed out last week, Mascis is one of the most hilariously disinterested interview subjects possible. Here are five of Mascis's most awkward interviews, for your cringing enjoyment.

More >>

​Those unclear on what tour managers are for exactly might consider reading Interpol/Moldy Peaches/Yo La Tengo road wrangler David Scheid's testimonial to the New York Times about what he does all day, which basically consists of flying various places on planes. One particularly brutal itinerary, to retrieve a band member's lost passport? Brussels to Portugal; Vigo to Madrid; Madrid to Dusseldorf; Dusseldorf to Madrid; Madrid to Portugal; Portugal to London. Sheid adds: "By the time I got off the plane in England I was beat and looked a little insane. Which is pretty typical for me." Points in particular for the photo he snuck in there, which includes in one the Dinosaur Jr. custom Nikes, the Butthole Surfers' Creamed Corn, an Unsane record, and the requisite battered suitcase. Business section, what's good? [NYT, via Daily Swarm]

​--Yesterday, we reported the existence of a new Weezer track, the punchy "(If You're Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To." Today, Weezer announced the title of their new album, and it's Raditude. Yes, Raditude. Longtime Weez webman Karl Koch writes on the band's site: "'Raditude"??' WHAT is 'Raditude'? WHO is 'Raditude'? WHERE is 'Raditude'? WHEN is 'Raditude'? HOW is 'Raditude'? DONDE ES 'Raditude,'" and so on. It's been confirmed that Raditude, which hits stores October 25th, was produced by Jacknife Lee and Butch Walker. We'll continue scouring all post-Maladroit albums to find out when exactly the old Rivers Cuomo died and was replaced by an evil, sarcastic demon who pens numbers like "Can't Stop Partying," "The Girl Got Hot," and "I'm Your Daddy". The band plays Jones Beach on August 25th with blink 182.

--This is cool: Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. will play together Terminal 5 on November 21st. Tickets are $35 and go on sale Friday, August 21st.

More >>

via dennischang's photostream

Dinosaur Jr.
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Thursday, June 25

Dinosaur Jr. did bring up Michael Jackson from the stage last night, frontman/guitar wizard J. Mascis muttering something about Farah Fawcett and MJ and, later, when Lou Barlow took requests: "What are we gonna play? 'Billie Jean,' perhaps." They did not, thankfully, covers of Michael Jackson at this stage falling definitively into the too soon category, along with pedophilia jokes and plastic surgery jokes and Mark Sanford jokes and the Funk Flex ticket giveaways that kept interrupting HOT97's tribute on the radio last night. The audience responded with respectful silence, mostly, silence being a relative term when you're at a Dino Jr. show, and feedback is a screaming constant, even between songs.

More >>

Stream the entirety of Dinosaur Jr.'s rock solid Farm, out this coming Tuesday, at their MySpace. On top of the three songs already out and circulating--the ferocious, double-soloing "I Don't Wanna Go There," album highlight "I Want You to Know," and "I'm Over It"--we heartily recommend "There's No Here," for its bonkers, epic bridge, and the sad-guitar showcase that is "Said the People," a song not recommended for anyone who might already be depressed. But, you know, if you're feeling strong. [Dinosaur Jr./MySpace]

SOTC buddy Ryan Dombal gets to the bottom of Dinosaur Jr.'s video for "I'm Over It," in which the band's three aging members do obviously stunt-doubled tricks on one skateboard and two BMX bikes. Except some of it--and not just the part where J. Mascis awkwardly cruises into the frame, and then sits down--apparently actually happened! From the Pitchfork interview with the video's director, Mark Locke:

More >>