For nearly 25 years, guitarist J Mascis has been leading the fight to ensure that blistering solos don’t go the way of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Initially, his six-string strangulation just went the way of Dinosaur Jr, the indie power trio Mascis co-founded with bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph in 1983. Three classic albums followed before Barlow was acrimoniously ejected after 1988’s Bug, moving on to form indie legends Sebadoh. ‘Dinosaur Jr’ continued as the vehicle for Mascis’s fret flurries through the artistically successful Green Mind and commmercially fulfilling Where You Been? before seeming to go the way of the dodo following 1997’s Hand It Over. But 2005 saw the original lineup’s surprising reconciliation, and this highly anticipated return picks up where little furry things became big, knotty riffage. These 11 tracks sound like the bristly barrage Dinosaur Jr would have laid into and out in 1999, not 1989, and that’s a boon. Barlow takes the fore on a couple of overdriven roils, but Beyond never fully dips into Dino Jr’s early smudged freak-outs. Instead, this adrenalized effort benefits from a dollop of sludge trudge and a wallop of confident combustion. Who says you can never go back again?

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