Dinosaur Jr. - Puke + Cry: The Sire Years 1990-1997 (2023) [FLAC]

Released ................ 2023
Source .................. WEB
Genre ................... rock, alternative, indie rock
Codec ................... FLAC
Bit Depth ............... 16 bits
Sampling Rate ........... 44.1 kHz

When the original trio lineup of Dinosaur Jr. imploded in 1989, guitarist/vocalist J Mascis barely broke his stride when it came to continuing the progress the groundbreaking alt-rock group had been making up until that point. Instead of taking some time to regroup, Mascis carried on immediately with the Dinosaur Jr. name, quickly delivering the first of what would be four full-length albums for a newly inked major-label deal with Sire Records. Mascis would remain at the creative center for these albums, sometimes playing all of the instruments himself, and developing a style even more unique and internal than the already unconventional blend of cloudy emotional themes and noisy guitar hooks the band had presented throughout their earliest days. Puke + Cry: The Sire Years, 1990-1997 collects pretty much every track Mascis and company recorded during this phase of Dinosaur Jr., including four studio albums and over two dozen B-sides, alternate versions, and other non-album tracks from the same time period. The difference between the murky punk aggression of 1988's Bug and the more textural production and restrained songwriting of 1991's Green Mind (the first album the band released in their new form and with their new label) was remarkable, and Mascis continued upping production values and experimenting with layers for the rest of Dinosaur Jr.'s time with Sire. 

Puke + Cry highlights these experiments by bracketing together the hazy, introspective songwriting of Green Mind, the sometimes-tortured Neil Young-informed melancholy of 1993's Where You Been, the accidental pop and understated country touches of 1994's Without a Sound, and the expanded instrumentation of 1997's Hand It Over, the last Dinosaur Jr. record before a hiatus that ended when the original members reunited and got back into the studio ten years later. In addition to the albums proper, highlights among the many, many bonus tracks on Puke + Cry include studio tracks from the 1991 Green Mind companion EP Whatever's Cool with Me (among them an essential-if-croaky cover of Bowie's "Quicksand" and the fizzy melodic mess of "Not You Again"), a curious Del the Funky Homosapien collaboration on Where You Been-era bonus track "Missing Link," an inhuman cover of the Germs' "What We Do Is Secret" with special guest Mike Watt, and several instrumental versions of songs from Without a Sound that emphasize just how many guitars were utilized in the recording process. While the Dinosaur Jr. material released in the '90s on Sire wasn't quite a J Mascis solo project, it's different from the streamlined force and group chemistry apparent in everything made by the original lineup. Diving into Puke + Cry offers a focused look at what made the Sire years a special chapter in the band's history, with a different mode of expression but just as much to offer as what came before and after.

01 - The Wagon
02 - Puke + Cry
03 - Blowing It
04 - I Live for That Look
05 - Flying Cloud
06 - How'd You Pin That One on Me
07 - Water
08 - Muck
09 - Thumb
10 - Green Mind
11 - Pebbles + Weeds
12 - The Little Baby
13 - Not You Again
14 - Quicksand (Wagon Reprise)
15 - Throw Down
16 - Whatever's Cool with Me
17 - Sideways
18 - The Wagon [7" DJ Edit]
19 - Out There
20 - Start Choppin
21 - What Else Is New
22 - On the Way
23 - Not the Same
24 - Get Me
25 - Drawerings
26 - Hide
27 - Goin Home
28 - I Ain't Sayin
29 - Hot Burrito #2
30 - Quest [Acoustic]
31 - Turnip Farm
32 - Forget It
33 - Keeblin'
34 - Missing Link
35 - Feel the Pain
36 - I Don't Think So
37 - Yeah Right
38 - Outta Hand
39 - Grab It
40 - Even You
41 - Mind Glow
42 - Get Out of This
43 - On the Brink
44 - Seemed Like the Thing to Do
45 - Over Your Shoulder
46 - Get Out of This (No Words Just Solo)
47 - Blah
48 - I Don't Think So [Instrumental]
49 - Outta Hand [Instrumental]
50 - Get Out of This [Instrumental]
51 - On the Brink [Instrumental]
52 - Seemed Like the Thing to Do [Alternate Mix]
53 - I Don't Think
54 - Never Bought It
55 - Nothin's Goin On
56 - I'm Insane
57 - Can't We Move This Along
58 - Alone
59 - Sure Not Over You
60 - Loaded
61 - Mick
62 - I Know Yer Insane
63 - Gettin' Rough
64 - Gotta Know
65 - Take a Run at the Sun
66 - Don't You Think It's Time
67 - The Pickle Song
68 - I Misunderstood
69 - What We Do Is Secret
70 - Never Bought It [Live, ABC-TV, Australia]
71 - Sure Not Over You [Live, ABC-TV, Australia]