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It's hard to believe, but Dinosaur Jr. released their debut 27 years ago. To put that in perspective, that same distance into the Rolling Stones' career, the Brits were between the never-talked-about Steel Wheels and the not-this-one-either Voodoo Lounge. By contrast, legendary Amherst-spawned indie-rock trio Dinosaur Jr. continue to create terrific, visceral albums, like this, their tenth. Fronted by laconic guitar god J Mascis, the original iteration of the band imploded in the late '80s, then astonished fans by reuniting in 2005. Although I Bet on Sky presents fewer applications of the guitar fury and immolating noise that characterized the early work, here the punk scramble and six-string shred that fans crave is bottled into the uptempo scorcher "Pierce The Morning Rain." The set also contains pleasant elements of déjà vu: the piano embedded in brilliant opener "Don't Pretend You Didn't Know" recalls spectacular moments from the acclaimed 1993 set Where You Been. And, hewing to a tradition that harks all the way back to 1988's Bug, Sky closes with "See It on Your Side," a long brooder supporting formidable cascades of blaring lead guitar. In July, Mascis told NME "I'm ready for [the band] to stop at any time," but hopefully only a catastrophic meteor strike could beget Dinosaur's extinction the second time around.
