Dinosaur Jr. was an amazingly important band for me in the 90s. J was the guitar god in an era that had become utterly dismissive of solos, when Bob Mould was switching from booze to Sugar and even Metallica thought the end was nigh for axe grinding. Dino's take was to ignore all that -- J sings in a Neil Young-ish warble that was (and is) all but lost in the howl of his guitar during extended, speedy solos that define the shape of their music. Live, the Dino Jr. experience is as much a physical event as it is a concert; J started out as a drummer and felt that the guitar just wasn't as meaty as skins, which lead him to push his amps to volume levels that make your clothing ripple. I remember during one show at San Francisco's Warfield Theater for the Wagon tour feeling my sternum contract as the band galloped full-tilt into "Freak Scene." Lou Barlow has nominally gotten over being butt-hurt with J's utter lack of social interaction and the original line-up has been bouncing around together again for the last couple of years. Their latest, Farm, recently dropped, and is proof positive that not every band runs out of ideas and energy after taking time off. Check out the clip above to see the crew hammer out "Pieces" from the new collection of songs (can you still call them "albums" anymore?) on Fallon and marvel at the giant wall of Marshalls stacked up behind the grey-haired six string wizard.

I'm sorry.. but I had to turn that off 30 seconds in... just wasn't feeling it.
skizomaniak04:25 PM CST