One of the hard parts about being a guitar
hero/solo artist is making your lyrics every bit as inventive as your axe-slinging.
Such is the point former Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis finds himself stuck
on throughout his latest solo album, Free so Free, an album whose lyrics
are as repetitive as its noodling is varied.
Take for example three of the song titles
on Free: “Freedom,” “Set Us Free,” and “Free So Free.” Then of course,
there is the mantra around which the mellow, solo-less “Someone Said” is
built: “Someone said my freedom’s gone.” All this talk of freedom begs
two questions: 1) Does Mascis feel chained down by something? And 2) Is
this a concept album? On “Free So Free,” Mascis reveals “And I want to
be truthful with a friend,” while on “Tell the Truth,” Mascis equates the
truth with… that’s right, freedom! Of course, those who look into the lyrics
might wonder if Mascis is using this album to vent some personal issues…
… but then there’s everybody else who just
wants to know if Mascis rocks. Despite being a mellow, underproduced album
on the whole, what makes you want to pay attention to Mascis are the guitar
solos that crop up where many other artists may have put a hook. The show-off
plucking that goes on during “Everybody Lets Me Down,” and “Outside,” among
other songs, reveals Mascis to be a guitar hero for the college radio crowd,
with a voice that puts him in the running against Built to Spill’s Doug
Martsch and the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne for Best Neil Young Impression.
VERDICT: If you don’t listen to the lyrics
too much, what Free So Free leaves the listener with is a series of guitar
solos that need to be turned up to be felt (because apparently they don’t
turn the amps up in Mascis’ studio). The album rocks quietly, and when
Mascis’ guitar antics get toned down, what you’re left with is still a
quiet diatribe on the nature of freedom and truth, especially on “Free
So Free” and “Someone Said.” Not recommended for those who like their rock
stars to get to the point.
