In 1984, three guys from Massachusetts banded together over a love of creating powerful and personal rock music. By 1989, one founding member had already left the band. Now, a documentary reveals the story behind this grunge band: Dinosaur Jr.
On Oct. 1, theaters across the UK and Europe will begin showing Freakscene — The Story of Dinosaur Jr. Although the North American release date has not yet been announced, the trailer for the documentary provides a glimpse into their intriguing story.
The trailer opens with lingering regret: frontman J Mascis drives through the snow, questioning how anyone could think the life of a musician is “fun.” The following clips, however, would have you believe this life is exhilarating — the band played show after show, starred on the David Letterman Show and are praised by dedicated fans. But they never cared about the lifestyle. They only cared about the music.
“We all grew up with the same mentality about music,” Bob Mould says in the trailer. “Very aggressive, very forward, very loud. But also melodic.”
The trailer alone reveals how the band enjoyed creating and performing music, but still struggled with touring. Between the van breaking down and personal tensions between members, the band got so close — to each other and to the art — that they fell apart.
“If I had stayed in the band,” Lou Barlow says, “It would have destroyed my love for music.”
Years after this split, the band reformed in 2005 and has released five albums since. Their most recent is Sweep It Into Space, which combines gritty distortion and peaceful mid-tempo tracks. The band was also supposed to tour this fall, but is postponing dates due to COVID concerns.
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