So, I’m reading this Dinosaur Jr. interview over at the Onion’s AV club. I know it’s hard for you to believe, but they talk about Lou and J’s problems with each other in excruciating detail. At this point, my grandmother knows that J and Lou have “issues”. Did you hear about when J told Lou the band was breaking up, but had really secretly booked an Australian tour with a new bass player? Yeah I know, grandma. Can we talk about something else, like when the next My Bloody Valentine record might come out?
So, anyway, I’m reading happily along (and picturing J and Lou reclining on couches as the shrink/interviewer probes into their issues like some kind of marriage counselor to the indie rock stars) when I come across this nugget:
Lou Barlow: There’s a lot made that we hated each other while the band was going on, and it wasn’t really that—it’s just that we didn’t communicate. We had, like, zero chemistry as people. J’s someone that, if you get him going and talking and feeling comfortable, he can be really articulate and easy to talk to. But you have to do the work. And when I was in the band with him—actually, from the first time that I met him—I held him in really high esteem, because I thought he was really talented and well-dressed and he was like the coolest guy I’d ever met.
Did you catch that? Well-dressed? Everyone agrees that J Mascis is one hell of a guitar player and a very talented songwriter, but well-dressed? Honestly, that thought has never crossed my mind. Let me give you a visual:
Enough said.
