Written and Directed by Philipp Reichenheim
Starring J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph
Runtime: 82 minute
In theaters starting October 1

by Matt McCafferty, Staff Writer

Most musicians started out playing music because it looked like fun. I picked up a guitar at 15 for that exact reason. Then I started messing around with drums just shortly after that. To this day at 36 years old, I still love to play. But as much as I love to play, I’ve always treated it as a hobby; a way to wind down during my free time. For the guys in Dinosaur Jr., making music has never been about enjoyment. J Mascis says, “I don’t know where people get this idea that it’s supposed to be fun to play music.” 

Along with his intricate guitar solos, Mascis is also known for his methodical approach to songwriting. In most cases, he maps out every part of the song (drum fills and all) for Lou and Murph to play. This songwriting approach in combination with his extremely introverted personality made it tough on his fellow band members over the years. This brings us to the main focus of the film; that being the rocky relationships between the three original band members, J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph. All of their fighting (including some on-stage feuds) took on a lot of attention over the years. Most impressively, even though the dynamics between them weren’t always great, Dinosaur Jr. still managed to become one of the most influential alternative-rock bands of the last thirty five years. 

If you’re a fan of the band, Freakscene is a pretty interesting watch. I’ve read things about J Mascis over the years regarding his eccentric behavior and his desire to take control of everything. You do get to see him open up a little bit in some of these interviews. I should emphasize only a little bit. The doc doesn’t provide any clear answers on what all the fights were really about. With Mascis himself involved as a producer, it makes sense that some of the harsher details of these fights remain untold. While he is the leader of the band and unquestionably at the center of most of these squabbles, it’s unfair to say that he alone was the reason the band didn't’ get along. It really comes down to the fact these three clashing personalities are probably not meant to be friends. Even today as they continue to put out new music, I think these guys have come to terms with that notion. They are able to put their personal issues aside for the sake of their music. When the three of them get together to play, everything clicks.

It’s easy to spend a lot of time on all the drama that occurred, however I want to switch gears to the music itself. I understand that getting an inside look at the feuds is the main draw of the doc for many people. You get plenty of focus on that in the film if that’s your interest. For me, I’m more interested in the music they made. They are one of the rare bands who continue to put out consistently great albums. When I hear that a Dinosaur Jr. album is on the way, I know it’ll be something I’ll be listening to for months upon its release. That was definitely the case with this year’s release, Sweep It Into Space. If you happen to be new to Dinosaur Jr., this may actually be a good starting point. It has plenty of their usual bits of feedback, screeching solos and crunching distortion...but toned back just slightly in a way that puts the catchy vocal melodies a little more front and center. Most people would probably suggest You’re Living All Over Me as a good starting place, but to be honest, there’s no real bad place to start. 

More so than anything, I’m hopeful this documentary will remind people of just how good this band still is today. Or even better, it may introduce people to Dinosaur Jr. for the first time. As a fan of the band, does all of the in-band fighting drama really matter to me? As I was watching how things unfolded, I realized that, no, I don’t actually care about any of that. Their music is all that matters to me. I’ll just be over here waiting for their next album.