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Why, then, after an unlikely 2005 reunion that's so far generated two more excellent records, go back and open those old wounds?
"I don't know. It's a good gimmick," Barlow says. "It's probably a good way to jack up the ticket prices a little bit."
Of course, the sound of a band bursting apart can sometimes make for a thrilling listen. Bug starts with the definitive Dinosaur Jr. anthem, "Freak Scene"—ironically, for a band whose members could barely stand each other at the time, a plainspoken ode to friendship and community—and ends with the dirgelike psychodrama "Don't," featuring Barlow repeatedly screaming the Mascis-penned lyric "Why don't you like me?!" for five intense minutes. Although created in passive-aggressive tumult, Bug stands as a fitting cap to one of the greatest three-album runs in underground music history. And while it might not have been the intent, revisiting the record some two decades later has helped the band reclaim the album for itself.
"In a certain way, we've conquered the negativity I associate with that record by playing it out, like, 20 times," Barlow says. "It's kind of killed the bad vibe around it, which is pretty cool."
WW: What are you memories of recording Bug?
Lou Barlow: We had quite a bit of success with You're Living All Over Me,
and the feeling within the band, at least from J, was that we got
everything we wanted. It was almost like doing this third record was
just something we had to do. J approached it absolutely drained of
enthusiasm. He was still shooting out amazing riffs and stuff, but there
was this real sense of duty to the whole thing. J just seemed really
sick of me and Murph. He was just so cranky.
What are your feelings toward "Freak Scene"?
At the time, I thought it was kind of a cheap shot. I was
like, "That's kind of an obvious one there, J." Of course, it's great.
It's a totally cool song. At the time, though, it seemed a little
simplistic compared to the other songs he was coming up with. He was
great at crafting these off-kilter songs with not really orchestral but
pretty ambitious structures, and it seemed like "Freak Scene" was not
that ambitious. But I'm a pop music fan, so I get it.
Is it true you coughed up blood after recording "Don't"?
It wasn't a deep-red blood, it was just an irritation of
the throat. I didn't permanently injure myself or anything. But J wrote
this fucking nasty song for me to sing, and it was obviously such a dig,
so I was like, "OK, buddy, if that's what you want me to do, I'll
fucking do it. If that's where we're at, this is what'll happen." I
dedicated myself to it.
A live interview every night of the tour seems like the last thing J would ever want to do.
Yeah, but it's with Henry Rollins. That's kind of an offer
you can't refuse. And J's changed a lot. I always felt he could
practically have his own whacked-out talk show. He's got this incredible
anti-charisma where, when he's in the right state, he can be really
funny. He can be very charismatic, in his non-charismatic way.
SEE IT: Dinosaur Jr. plays the Crystal Ballroom on Friday, Dec. 16, with Scratch Acid and host/interviewer Henry Rollins. 8 pm. $25 advance, $30 day of show. All ages.
WWeek 2015