MUSIC THURSDAY: Dinosaur Jr.

At first glance, Dinosaur Jr could probably be lumped in with the Nirvanas, Mudhoneys, and Soundgardens of the grunge movement, but in many ways they were actually the antithesis of that genre, with their sprawling arrangements, drawling vocals, and lengthy guitar solos.

Bandleader J Mascis is kind of like the Neil Young of Generation X, only without the commercial success - an introverted guitar anti-hero with a shaky voice and a deep catalog. The cool kids will tell you that the best Dinosaur Jr albums were You're Living All Over Me and Bug, from their days as indie darlings, and back when it was truly a band and not a thinly veiled Mascis solo project. But I think they did their best work later, in the early 90s, when they sold out and signed to Sire. Green Mind and Where You Been were the soundtrack of my early teenage years, and still hold up pretty well today.

Check out this extremely raw 1994 performance on British television programme The Word.