Suggestaholic!

  Music, as we know, has the power to transport us. We hear a song, or even a sliver of a song, and are taken back to a different part of our lives. This can happen with the other four senses as well, but music seems to be especially potent.

I had a pile of 45’s when I was nine or ten, for instance, and if one of those tunes come wafting my way (more than three decades later!), I instantly remember how I felt when I was nine or ten.

Oh, I don’t feel like a kid exactly; I don’t have an urge to go out and jump a stack of cinderblocks with a Schwinn Stingray, or anything like that. I just recall the general attitude I had toward things at the time those songs were a part of my life.

And just as quickly as it arrives, it goes away. Which always makes me a little sad… ‘Cause carefree, safe, and happy ain’t a bad place to be.

Dinosaur Jr.’s Green Mind falls into the same category for me. I was living in Atlanta when it was released, in a terrible apartment in a terrible neighborhood, trying to recover from a long-term relationship that had recently gone straight down the ol’ crap-catcher.

I don’t do break-ups very well, they generally send me ass-over-tits. So the previous few months had been very dark indeed. But by the time I got my hands on this CD, I was coming out of it and living again. I could finally see the color of the trees, and taste the coffee in the mornings.

It’s a great feeling, emerging from a three or four month self-pity wallow, it really is. And in 1991 Green Mind was the soundtrack to that entire process for me. I played the thing constantly, and loved every squalling, maniacal minute of it. I was certain it was a stone-cold masterpiece, and never changed my mind on the subject.

Today, when I hear the first few notes of “The Wagon,” then J. Mascis’ strange warble, I feel instantly better, healthier. It’s an amazing thing.

It would be easy to believe my attachment to the album hinges on the timing of its release only; that whatever I happened to be playing during that period would leave a pleasant aftertaste…

And that might be partly true. But I think it’s more of a case of me reacting to a great album, and all the possibilities that represents, at a time when I was feeling especially optimistic and strong myself. I seriously doubt, say, Richard Marx would’ve resonated in quite the same way.

Whenever aging hipsters discuss Dinosaur Jr. they always mention You’re Living All Over Me and Bug (and rightly so), but rarely Green Mind. I have a hard time understanding this. Sure, it was their first major label record (SELL OUT!!), and Lou Barlow was gone, and occasionally you can hear (gasp) acoustic guitars.

But I don’t know what to tell you… The thing is freakin’ amazing — one of the finest albums of the 1990s, in my estimation.

The songs are the best Mascis ever managed to collect together in one place, it has a better flow than the other records, and there’s a certain depth and atmosphere the band never accomplished before, or since. It’s also aggressively loud, with over-the-top batshit guitar, and makes a person feel happy to be alive.

And yes, it also makes for one hell of a great post-wallow celebration.

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