Back to the Future: Before grunge there was Dinosaur Jr.

Mascis, Murph and Barlow (in '87 here) had a lot more to do
 with '90s rock than they get credit for.

I'll soon be off to see one of my favorite bands of all time: Dinosaur Jr. They're in Philadelphia tonight to play one of their classic '80s records, Bug, in its entirety. That album, released in 1988, was the Amherst trio's last record together before leader, J. Mascis broke the band up and began recording Dinosaur Jr. as what was essentially a solo act. (Bassist Lou Barlow soon put together another early '90s indie rock powerhouse, Sebadoh).

I mentioned to a friend yesterday, who really didn't know Dinosaur Jr.'s work, that they were basically grunge before there was grunge. There were a lot of indie rock outfits in the late '80s moving from the fast and spartan confines of the hardcore scene and developing a guitar rock that owed more to classic, '60s sounds (Meat Puppets come to mind), but Dinosaur Jr. was creating what would really be a model for a number of loud, guitar bands that were right around the corner. Particularly Nirvana.

Music in the clouds: Two weeks on Google Music

Google Music's main artist page. 

When I'm not obsessing about music, I tend to obsess about technology. I'm a devoted user of Google apps and was excited to give Google Music a try when it was announced last month.

For anyone who doesn't know, Google Music is Google's entre into mp3 storage and playback, but it's all "in the cloud." In other words, it's entirely Web based. You upload your music to Google's servers and play it on anything that can browse the Web.

I got my official invite two weeks ago and uploaded my entire library, a trimmed-down 7,000 songs (just the necessities). The set up was quick and easy. The Mac OSX version adds a music manager application to the OSX system preferences. From there you point the music manager at the file in which you store your music, and it does the rest. Any time I add music to the folder, it's automatically uploaded to Google in the background. I don't even see it happening.

Arctic Monkeys: From 0 to 60 in just 5 years

The Arctic Monkeys have matured a lot in 5 years.

It was only five years ago that all the U.K. music magazines declared The Arctic Monkeys the greatest rock band ever. The band's 2006 debut Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not broke the British record for fastest selling debut album ever. And, unlike a lot of English indie rock (every band not named Oasis), the record did pretty well in the states, too.

The U.K. rock press declares a new Beatles every six months or so, but Whatever... deserved the attention. Arctic Monkeys is a goofy name for a band, but there was nothing silly about the band's obvious work ethic. They blasted through catchy and powerful guitar pop songs with the precision of expert craftsmen. And frontman Alex Turner was a slick lyricist, filling the Monkey's tunes with great observational wit and humor.

Quick review: Givers 'In Light'

Lafayette, La. band, Givers

Lafayette, Louisiana is a long way from New York City, but the small city's biggest band right now, Givers, owe a little bit of their world-wise indie pop sound to New York City band's like Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors.

But there's nothing necessarily derivative to the sound of the five-piece's debut LP In Light. A little bit experimental and a little bit world music, Givers have managed to record a really enjoyable 10 songs with what's really best described as a big sound.

These guys have maxed out what five musicians can do with multiple vocal parts -- the star being the group's lone female member Tiffany Lamson, who just has a great voice -- and great arrangements that move from springy afro-pop to big fuzzy riffs of guitar and keyboard. Even when they slow the tempo down, the band never sounds small. Actually, In Light is the audio for one really terrific party. This is a band you'd want to hang out with.

I could ponder big questions about what it means for more white kids to borrow so much from afro pop and wonder, again, why young musicians are so darn happy, but Givers make those sorts of intellectual questions feel strained and stupid. This record is just too good. I liked Vampire Weekend and this band is nearly every bit better. The record sounds great. The songs are fun -- there's not a second on the 52-minute record that doesn't belong. And the musicianship is top notch. Givers are playing this kind of music because they can (and it ain't easy, trust me).

VIDEO: My Morning Jacket extra from Jimmy Fallon

My Morning Jacket was on the Jimmy Fallon show Tuesday night and played "Circuital," the title track of the new record. They did a Web-only performance of "You Wanna Freak Out." It's pretty terrific.

My Morning Jacket less strange but back in form for "Circuital"

Jim James and delightfully strange My Morning Jacket

Everyone I know who likes My Morning Jacket, the spacey Louisville, Kentucky rock band with the curious name, has the same opinion of the band's last two records. Z is a transcendent work of staggering beauty, and its followup, Evil Urges1, is an off-the-rails creative disaster, a runaway train of bad ideas and half-baked sounds.

For fans, that turnaround was tough to take. Therefore I was anxious about hearing the band's new record, Circuital, last week. The band had played the title track live, and it was good. But what would it sound like on the record? And what about the other songs? Would there be any freaky funk workouts? James Taylor easy-listening throw aways?

I'm pleased to report that, while the band has not produced an equal to Z, it has recovered a great deal of ground lost to the goofiness of Evil Urges. Circuital is a controlled, 10-song set of what we have come to expect from MMJ: Good songwriting and great performance.

Fucked Up: Brilliant punks or flawed rockers?

Fucked Up: more than the greatest punks?

If an album is one of the best hardcore punk albums you've ever heard, does that also make it a great album? On the one hand, the record is clearly at the top of its game. But on the other hand, sticking to well-established guidelines is self-limiting.

I can't quite figure out how to answer that question, but it's the essential dilemma I'm facing in writing about Toronto band Fucked Up's new hardcore epic David Comes To Life, which was released on Matador last week.

This much is true: David Comes to Life is about as good and enjoyable a hardcore punk record as I've heard in a while. The three-guitar group has done a lot of growing up (despite a name that ensures they're only going to be taken so seriously). The 18-song, nearly 80-minute long epic is full of terrific riffs and and rhythms. Arrangements on the record are masterfully done. From the haunting piano and guitar build of the first track, "Let Her Rest," you can tell you're listening to something entirely different, something more than a bunch of amped up guitar anthems.