J Mascis, “What Do We Do Now.” There’s a special kind of yearning found in only the best of love letters: short vague sentences, pregnant with meaning, written to be read over and over again like a magical incantation. “Wish you were here,” “Thinking of you,” “You’re living all…

Dinosaur Jr., “Sweep It Into Space.” In the world of rock and roll, desire comes in two forms. First, in raunchy songs like Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” desire is instinctual, libidinous, and destined to be fulfilled. But among bleaker artists like The Cure and The Killers,…

Dinosaur Jr. performs at Slim’s in San Francisco on Oct. 28, 2019. Photos: Joaquin Cabello. SAN FRANCISCO — Last November, when Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis played Slim’s in support of his solo album, the Bay Area was shrouded in several serious wildfires. In a strange case of deja…

J Mascis performs at Slim’s in San Francisco on Nov. 14, 2018. Photos: Joaquin Cabello. SAN FRANCISCO — A thick blanket of smoke welcomed J Mascis to the Bay Area when he played Slim’s on Wednesday night, and that seemed appropriate. Mascis, former frontman and guitarist for the famously…

J Mascis, “Elastic Days.” In the Camelot of the 1990s alt-rock, J Mascis was a knight seated at King Cobain’s roundtable of grunge—alongside the likes of Corgan, Vedder and Cornell. However, as the kingdom waned, Mascis, the guitarist and frontman for the tinnitus-inducing Dinosaur Jr., wandered from the spotlight…