The liberating drawl that swims through alternative rock staples like You’re Living All Over Me is a humbling one. J Mascis is a man whose guitar sings opera. His drumming sounds off a demolition man’s battery. He laid a defiant foundation for alternative rock in the 1980s with Dinosaur Jr. and delivered a Nordic thunder behind the drum kit in doom metal outfits like Witch. Yet, if it wasn’t apparent in the melodic heart in even Dinosaur Jr.’s heaviest moments, Mascis has a tender side.
And that tender side is what one should expect to see from the songwriter when he stops at the High Noon Saloon this Friday night in support of Tied to a Star—the latest from Mascis’s prolific output. Like its predecessor, Several Shades of Why, Tied to a Star features Mascis singing over the gentle picking of his Martin acoustic guitar, with electric guitars coming in occasionally to lift up the stompers and drone through the gloom. Elsewhere there are drums and pianos, but it’s primarily J Mascis crooning into a tender night, an acoustic guitar in his lap.
It’s this Martin + Me combo that’ll take the stage on Friday, with Mascis opting to let his songs speak stripped bare; he’ll be playing solo, strumming the decades-long Mascis catalog acoustically. As for those drums that dance with Tied to a Star’s rhythms? “You’ll just have to imagine those,” the quiet Mascis kindly explained. “It’ll just be me solo.”
According to Mascis, this will also be one of the first times these Tied to a Star songs will get the live treatment. “I’ve played a couple on radio stations so far and they’re a little bit difficult, because I’ve never really played them,” Mascis sighed with a hushed laugh, outlining a performance to go by ear.
Mascis is no stranger to the Madison scene. As recently as 2012, the reformed Dinosaur Jr. played the Majestic Theatre to an adoring crowd. Mascis remembers the town as far back as the 1980s, when he toured during Dinosaur Jr.’s younger years. It was a trek so frequent that it’s taken on a collective life of its own in Mascis’ memory. As the subtle Mascis remembers, “I’ve been there a lot. It all kind of blurs together.”
That’s not going to stop the alternative rocker from embracing the city, though. Mascis has several common stomping grounds to take in before hitting the High Noon, whether its the punk rock stylings of Ear Wax Records or the Nepalese cuisine of Himal Chuli. Or as Mascis fondly refers to them: “Some kind of punk rock store” and that restaurant that’s “Tibetan or Indian, or something,” before the solemn interjection “I think the name of the restaurant was Himal Chuli!”
Mascis later added with another sighing laugh, “I have a bad memory.”
A college-town native, Mascis is used to the collegiate audience likely to join him at the High Noon, and he made sure to underscore that audience’s importance in the traditional Mascis form: “It could [change the show]. You get a lot of energy—or non-energy perhaps—and that turns it in different ways.”
Mascis will be joined by Luluc, a fellow Sub Pop labelmate. An indie folk duo, Luluc recently released their sophomore album Passerby to a glowing reception. Anticipate a warm, open-armed folk swoon to open the show; Luluc tends to favor the softer side of Americana in their heart-on-sleeve recollections.
