Heavy Blanket - J Mascis is Back in the Face-Melting Business

Diehard J Mascis fans possess two crucial characteristics, a penchant for yelling “Lou Barlow Sucks!” at Dinosaur Jr. shows, and an inherently masochistic delight in having their faces melted. J will forever be known as the frontman and Axe-Shredder-in-Chief of Dinosaur Jr. But over the years, the schlubby Buddha of indie rock has displayed a restless creative spirit, which has manifested itself not only in his post-Dino band The Fog but in various one-off projects like Witch and Sweet Apple.

Last year, Mascis followed his wandering muse and released Several Shades of Why, an acoustic folk album that, while an accomplished effort that reaffirmed his talents as a singer/songwriter, no doubt disappointed his loyal followers. As if heeding their desperate pleas to plug in to an amp once again, Mascis ditched the acoustic strumming and mumbly vocals to focus on his bread and butter talent, the virtuosic guitar solo. The vehicle for this latest musical incarnation is Heavy Blanket.

Little is known about Heavy Blanket, other than that it is an instrumental trio fronted by Mascis. A press release made the media rounds a couple of months ago announcing the project, and featured a humorous account of the band’s back story involving teenage boredom, the Clap, Japanese hard psych, and smoking weed out of a tuba. The dubious nature of Heavy Blanket’s origins aside, what is indisputable is that the latest showcase for J.‘s guitar heroics is indeed heavy.

A review on iTunes used the phrase “blues guitar on acid” to describe the half dozen tracks on the band’s self-titled debut (shout out to Jgp77) . While the term “acid” in relation to rock music has not exactly aged well, it is an apt descriptor of the Heavy Blanket sound. Mascis’s guitar sounds downright corrosive throughout the album, featuring the familiar jagged, buzzsaw tone reminiscent of his work with Dinosaur Jr.    

The rhythm section is comprised of Johnny Pancake and Pete Cougar, two mystery men who are allegedly old high school stoner buddies of Mascis (are there any other kind?). They lay down a series of energetic blues rock rhythms over which Mascis wreaks his sonic mayhem. They are quite the accomplished duo in their own right, firing off volley after volley of bass note stabs, drum rolls, fills, and cymbal crashes, as if egging on Mascis to show them just what those stubby, calloused fingers are capable of.

But song after song of scorching Mascis guitar shredding may be too much of a good thing. By the fourth track, the bludgeoning “Corpuscle Through Time”, the human ear drum begins to sizzle as if coated in battery acid and sauteed on high heat. Heavy Blanket doesn’t relent until the closing track, “No Telling No Trails,” which slows the furious pace down to a sinister crawl for an epic soundtrack to a hallucinogen-fueled vision quest. 

Heavy Blanket is stoner blues rock at its most crushing. Imagine Dead Meadow with a ten ton chip on its shoulder. This is music for taking hard drugs and conducting marathon air guitar sessions. Lou Barlow haters, your Axe God is listening. Wrap yourselves up nice and tight, and be sure to hold a bucket under your chin after pressing “Play”.