Dinosaur Jr.

IF YOU DON'T KNOW Who Dinosaur Jr. is, it's probably because you're young and haven't been watching enough classic skate videos. Lucky for you, you're young, and they just re-released the first three albums, which are pretty much the sickest ones, on Merge. To promote this, they recently got all three original members to do a reunion tour, including Sebadoh man Lou Barlow, who was silently excused from the band back in '88. Sometime between searching for Nell Blender in the skateparks of Southern California and watching Dave Chappelle DVDs on the tour bus, I managed to catch up with J, not Lou, and Murph.

When was the last time you talked to Lou before this tour?

J: When I went to the last Sebadoh tour, he was screaming at me.

Murph: He had some whiskey.

J: He was on speed or something, just totally out of it. His mom was like, "J, what happened?" "I don't know, Mrs. Barlow ..."

Has there been a lot of bad blood between you gays over the years?

J: Just seeing him whining about it. It's more like I'm his big brother or something and I dissed him. And he's just pissed off.

Have you always gone to his shows?

J: Yeah. [Whispers] But he would never go to one of mine.

So then what kicked off the reunion?

Murph: Lou's mom put on this benefit for kids with Autism, where Lou and J got together for a Deep Wound reunion. That started the whole thing of everybody getting back in touch with each other.

And did you guys make up? How did. you get him back in the band?

Murph: It was J's manager calling him.

J: Even when he was screaming at me, he'd stop to go, "Psyched for the reunion!" and then he'd start screaming again. He's always been psyched for it. It was just up to me to decide that I could deal with it.

Is it true that you kicked, him out because he got a girlfriend?

J: Not because he got a girlfriend; that was just the catalyst for him to change and become unbearable. He never talked before, and once he got the girlfriend, he talked all the time. He was just growing up.

Why did you [Murph] leave the band?

Murph: We had done Lollapolooza, and I was miserable. There was tension, and I just remember J swing, "If it's not fun anymore, you shouldn't do it." So I just stopped.

Do you have any regrets about the way the whole thing went down?

J: No.

What's the group dynamic like now?

J: It's a lot different because we're all grown up, I guess. We were growing up at the time.

How did you get the name "Dinosaur"?

J: It just sounded good at the time.

Where did the distorted bass come from?

J: I think it was our idea. Lou was playing it more to be a rhythm guitar. Lemmy was a big influence.

What are some of your favorite Dinosaur songs to play?

J: "Forget the Swan."

Murph: I like some of the slower stuff, like "No Bones" and "Raisans."

Why did you put "Bulbs of Passion" first on the Dinosaur re-release?

J: That was the first song t was really happy with. When I think of Dino songs, I put that first. It's the definitive Dino song.

When you listen to those first three albums, is there anything you dislike?

J: I know Lou hated "Cat's in a Bowl" so much he scratched it off his copy with a knife. He couldn't stand to hear his own voice.

How come you never put your lyrics in the liner notes? Are they top personal?

J: No, it's because I was a record collector and I never wanted to read the lyrics. It always seemed better if you didn't know. If you knew the truth, it would destroy you.

Have you met any bands that cite you as an influence?

J: A lot of bands that we've been playing with, like Broken Social Scene.

What new bands are you into?

J: I like Magic Markers.

Murph: I listen to old stuff. I haven't changed. I still listen to all the same crap I did in high school.

What's new after this?

J: I have a few gigs with this other band where I play drums.

What band is that?

J: It's called Witch.

Murph: And Lou's got his Emo record. He's planning tours. I'm just going to take time and play my drums.