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.