So, its nothing short of remarkable that 20 years after the release of its debut album, Mascis, Murph and Lou began touring again. And now - even more remarkable- the demigods of fuzzy, low-if indie rock are back recording material and having fun doing it. Shortly before working out the final tracks and mixing the album, Barlow took some time to reflect on the rebirth of Dinosaur Jr.

THE RELUCTANT REUNION

He [J Mascis] got himself this manager out of Boulder, and he had a lot of experience with jamband kinds of bands. He's like, "Jay, you gotta get a reunion. You gotta get the band back together." J's like, "No." [laughs] But then the guy just went ahead and started calling me and calling Murph, and pretty soon he kind of backed J into a corner, like "Look, I got them on board, you gotta do it!" [laughs]
SOUND SCIENTIST

I cut my teeth with Dinosaur, despite all the reality TV kind of crap that I put on it after I was kicked out of the band. But what we actually did creatively was great, and I never questioned that, so to come back was a real treat. It was powerful, too. What I noticed was different was that J was just way more into it. Over these intervening years, he's just been developing his sound like a scientist.

J'S BAND

Now, it's totally different. The music's changed, the writing's completely different. We're basically continuing what J's been doing. This is like, we're J's band, and he's been writing records. The period that I was involved in the band was a very short period that led into a lot of these epic guitar records. So this is more like, in some ways, a continuation of what he's up to. But we played some songs for an old friend of ours, and he said, "It really sounds like you guys."

J'S HOUSE PART 1: WEIRD FRUIT

There were two sessions at J's house. We had the first in February. He's got this real nice ProTools hidef set up and all kinds of amps. It seemed really surreal, like, "We're actually gonna make a record?" And it was really cold, and being back in that kind of a situation with J and Murph... it took me probably three weeks to even digest what we were trying to do. By that time, that session was over. There wasn't really much of an in for me to write with the band or anything like that. It was some songs that J had worked out and Murph and I Just playing them over and over again trying to get the feel right for Jay. So it was sort of weird, but it was fruitful.

J'S HOUSE PART 2: SIMPLER

We got back together again a couple of weeks ago right after a tour that we'd done. The weather was beautiful; I got to bring some songs in. Jay threw a few more songs together, and somehow it just seemed a lot more fluid or just at least fun or something. We're finishing up the stuff now. And I'm understanding the vibe of J's songs more. The music that we played when I was in the band was pretty aggressive and kind of ambitious as far as how many parts were in the song. And Jay's stuff right now seems to be just a lot simpler.

THAT'S DUMB

I actually brought two electric songs to the band, so that's kind of double the output as far as bands go. [laughs] I purposefully brought things that I felt weren't finished because I wanted the band to finish them. And I played with Murph a little bit: I had him cone out to L.A., and we just sort of jammed for a couple of days before we went out on this tour. I'd introduced him to some of the riffs and stuff, so when we got to J's house he had a loose idea of what he wanted to do. We started playing together, and J would just sort of critique, like, "Don't do taht drum part. That's dumb. Do this." He was like the voice of reason when it  came to getting my songs down. But I think with J's songs it's like, you just try to do stuff that doesn't annoy him. [laughs] He's just a whole different person.

AND THE BAND PLAYED ON

I think maybe that we're just into hanging together. I'm such a hardass when it comes to music that I love. I'm just totally one of those that if your first two albums were good, all the rest of your shit sucks. I've got that kind of brutal perspective on rock in general, so I think that by doing this we're just really putting ourselves up to this shitstorm. Like, "Oh, you guys, glad you're making more money." The biggest surprise for me is that, as we get closer to the end, it's like, "I don't care what anybody thinks. I don't care. I'm really happy we did it. It's something that's going to remind me of a really good time in my life when it's done."

I'd say the glass became half full last year, and now it's getting close to overflowing. What once was a scar feels more like the little bumps and bruises you take as a kid, stuff that you learn from. That's kind of the way it's all feeling to me now. This record, on a personal level, that's what it means to me. And maybe, in some way, that'll come out when people listen to it. Maybe that's the way it'll all hang together, I hope. At it's core, this whole project is just a way to keep Murph off the streets, keep me in baby shoes and diapers and keep J's legacy rolling.