About
Dinosaur Jr. is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005. Guitarist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph were the band's founding and current members; Mascis has been the group's sole continuous member.
Their distinct guitar sound, characterized by high gain, extensive use of feedback and distortion, and frontman J Mascis's melodic guitar solos, was highly influential in the alternative rock movement of the 1990s.
Mascis and Barlow had previously played together in a hardcore punk band called Deep Wound, formed in 1982 while the pair were attending high school in western Massachusetts. After high school, they began exploring slower yet still aggressive music such as Black Sabbath, The Replacements, and Neil Young. Mascis' college friend Gerard Cosloy introduced him to bands like Dream Syndicate, which Mascis in turn showed to Barlow. Barlow explained, "We loved speed metal...and we loved wimpy-jangly stuff".
Deep Wound broke up in mid-1984. Cosloy had dropped out of the University of Massachuse…