Dinosaur Jr.’s first album in five years will be out later this summer, and, if J Mascis is to be believed, it demonstrates a renewed commitment to sounding like the loudest version of themselves. There Near, the influential trio’s sixth studio album since reuniting in 2005, is due Aug. 28 via Jagjaguwar. Lead single “Several Got Away” is out now, while a newly announced fall headlining tour is also set to begin Oct. 9 in Las Vegas.
“Several Got Away” arrives with a suitably surreal video directed by Guy Kozak, who drew inspiration from outsider artist Henry Darger’s apocalyptic imagery. “I wanted to do something a little tongue-in-cheek with a kind of ‘backyard movie’ feel that could fit in nicely with the existing canon of Dinosaur Jr. music videos,” Kozak says. The clip ultimately evolved into a lo-fi vision of the Rapture, complete with giant flaming hands terrorizing the band. “The guys were really game for it all and I was honored that they let me chase them around a big field with my camera like a psycho,” he adds.
Recorded in bursts over the course of a year at Amherst, Ma.’s Bisquiteen Studio, There Near finds Mascis, bassist/vocalist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph joined on a handful of tracks by local pianist/organist Ken Mauri.
For Mascis, part of the mission this time was rediscovering the sound that first made Dinosaur Jr. so beloved. To get there, he turned to a recently acquired 1970s Mesa Boogie MK 1 amplifier — the same model used during the recording of the band’s earliest material. “I bought the same amp that Chris Dixon had when we made our first album,” Mascis says. “It has a real interesting sound I haven’t gotten for a while, and it’s something I was trying to get back to on this album.” Invoking famed producer Rick Rubin’s well-worn advice to revisit a band’s formative work, Mascis jokes, “I just gave myself his advice.”
As for what the songs on There Near might be about, Mascis remains characteristically elusive. “I’m not always sure what a song is ‘about’ when I’m writing it. I’ll use whatever words work. A lot of it will be influenced by whatever esoteric mumbo jumbo I’m reading at the time. I try not to think too hard about any of it.” One thing he does feel strongly about? Spotify’s lyric feature. “I think it’s a drag that Spotify shows all the lyrics to a song,” he opines. “What’s the fun of that?”
Before the fall run, Dinosaur Jr. will play 17 July co-headlines with Band of Horses, starting July 10 in Kingston, N.Y.
Here are Dinosaur Jr.’s fall tour dates:
Fri. Oct. 9 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
Sat. Oct. 10 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
Sun. Oct. 11 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
Thu. Oct. 15 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
Fri. Oct. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
Sun. Oct. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Castro Theatre
Tue. Oct. 20 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
Thu. Oct. 22 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
Fri. Oct. 23 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune
Sat. Oct. 24 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune
Mon. Oct. 26 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Complex
Thu. Oct. 29 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
Fri. Oct. 30 – Fort Collins, CO @ Washington’s
Mon. Nov. 2 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
Wed. Nov. 4 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
Thu. Nov. 5 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
Fri. Nov. 6 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
Sat. Nov. 7 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s