SUB POP
By 2018, you know what you’re going to get with a new J Mascis record. Be it a Dinosaur Jr album or a solo one, his distinctive-bordering-onlackadaisical vocal style will mumble away as seemingly endless guitar solos rip through the core of the songs. When in solo mode, this will be accompanied by a great deal of acoustic guitar, with Lou Barlow’s trademark bass-clattering nowhere to be heard. His third solo album since 2011 continues in this trend and while it’s an endearing, likeable and deeply listenable record, it fails to add anything too new. It’s actually when Mascis is at his most strippedback and softest that this album resonates the most. Web So Dense is a beautiful, tender song in which the power of restraint allows his vocals to soak into you. It’s business as usual for Mascis, but a welcome offering nonetheless.