Dinosaur Jr. Enjoy Farming

05/14/09 5:22pm

by Ian Gormely (CHARTattack)

Alt.rock godfathers Dinosaur Jr. will release their ninth album in June. Simply called Farm, the record is the band's second since the original trio of singer/guitarist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph reformed in 2005.

Murph, on the phone from a tour stop in North Carolina, explains the group took a different approach to recording this time out.

"It was actually a completely different process from Beyond — like the exact opposite. With Beyond, we took about seven months to make while we were touring on and off.

"Whereas with this record it was more go into the studio and bang it out. I was literally learning drum parts in the morning and tracking them in the afternoon."

Though the pressure cooker recording situation isn't Murph's preferred method, it works for Mascis and Barlow, the group's songwriters.

"They're people, especially J, that like that kind of pressure," says Murph. "That makes him rise to the occasion a little faster."

But with all three members now in their forties, many would question if a band with Dinosaur Jr.'s legacy really needs to make a new record. Can't they just ride out their career on their first three albums? Murph says it's not so cut and dry.

"People kind of get sick of hearing the same songs over and over. Also, as a band you get kind of bored. You need to inspire yourself and keep things moving."

Mascis came up with the album title.

"He just pulls stuff out of a hat," says Murph.

But the drummer thinks the agrarian nature of their hometown, Amherst, Mass., influenced the decision.

"It's a farm town," he says. "I'm sure subliminally that had something to do with it."

Dinosaur Jr. plan to hit the road yet again. You can see them here:

June 20 Costa Mesa, CA @ The Detroit Bar
June 21 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
June 22-23 Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
June 25 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
July 4 Halifax, NS @ Citadel Hill (Virgin Festival Nova Scotia)