Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not

Dinosaur Jr. have always understood that melody can survive an extraordinary amount of guitar. Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not, their eleventh studio album, makes that contradiction feel effortless: J Mascis’s leads arrive in great sheets of distortion, yet beneath them are songs with clear emotional contours, memorable choruses and the slightly weary tenderness that has long distinguished the band from simpler notions of indie-rock heaviness.

Released on 5 August 2016 through Jagjaguwar, the album was recorded at Bisquiteen Studio in Amherst, Massachusetts and produced by Mascis. It was the fourth album after the reunion of the classic line-up, with Mascis joined by bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph. That longevity matters because the playing is wonderfully instinctive. Murph gives the songs their push, Barlow adds weight and contrast, and Mascis can let a solo stretch outward without the band underneath losing its shape. Most of the writing is Mascis’s, though Barlow takes over for “Love Is…” and “Left/Right”, providing a useful change of voice and temperament. Elsewhere, “Goin Down” and “Tiny” show the direct side of the record, while the longer “I Walk for Miles” and “Lost All Day” give the guitars more room to sprawl. The album title comes from a lyric in “Knocked Around”, and the sleeve, created by German painter Daniel Richter from his work “A Flower in Flames”, matches the music’s mixture of vivid colour and slightly battered oddness.

Critical response was notably strong, with a Metacritic average of 80 and Mojo placing it among its best albums of 2016. More importantly, the record avoids sounding like a veteran band preserving itself in amber. Dinosaur Jr. are not trying to disguise what they are: cracked vocals, enormous guitar tone, melodic bass and drums that keep everything moving. The pleasure comes from how alive that familiar chemistry remains, and how much feeling can still be smuggled through the noise.