DINOSAUR JR Schallplatten & CDs

Review: When Dinosaur Jr. were recorded live in Paris the iconic garage punk outfit were undoubtedly at the very top of their game. Three years after adding Jr. to their name, the creative output at this point was incredible, carving out a position for themselves as purveyors of powerful noises that were as raw and gnarly as they were complex and intelligent. A band that could turn rough and ready chords into walls of sound capable of tearing the roof off and lifting us all into the stratosphere. Never before released, this companion piece to 2022's best-selling live-on-MTV EP, Seventytwohundredseconds, is exemplary of the stuff they built that reputation on. From the gnashing riffs of 'Just Live Heaven', to the wasp-in-jar-energy and cacophonous peaks of 'Drawerings', and 'Keep The Glove' erupting into mind-blowing guitar work, and 'Budge' arguably taking that to greater heights, this is Dinosaur Jr. at maximum roar, and it will never not be impressive.

Review: It's not that we get hold of a new Dinosaur Jr. album and feel disappointed. In fact, far from it - the band are among the chosen few alternative rock outfits to have managed to maintain their creative prowess and sense of adventure over the course of four decades. Nevertheless, this live outing represents them during peak years, established enough to have proven why they should command reverence, but still boasting the kind of freshness that represented youth culture at the time.

Recorded at the height of the grunge movement, something Jr were tied to but predated and never really bowed to in terms of demands for non-conformist conformity, this is loud, heavy, raucous rock 'n' roll music for Generation X, but which transcends eras and ages to speak to disaffected and affected in one fell swoop. Never before released, embrace it while you can.