Album Review: You’re Living All Over Me by Dinosaur Jr.

You're Living All Over Me by Dinosaur Jr. was released in Dec. of 1987 and is now one of the most influential albums in alternative rock. (Credit: Dinasaour Jr.)

Dinosaur Jr’s sophomore album, You’re Living All Over Me, is a blend of genres ranging from hardcore punk to metal. 

The three-piece Massachusetts band released this album in 1987. It was well before its time and became impactful for alternative music as a whole. 

Every song on this album takes the different genres and blends them with a vaguely country sort of twang that makes this record fascinating.  

The first track on the album is called “Little Fury Things” and it is an excellent encapsulation of the band. 

The song starts with a disco-like beat on the drums with borderline screamo vocals over top. Then, all of this subsides and we get into the heart of the song. 

This section features beautiful vocals by lead singer and guitarist J Mascis, who sings “Rabbit falls away from me, I guess I'll crawl.” This chorus contrasts with the opening of the song. The band manages to blend these two distinct parts into a cohesive song. 

Near the end, we hear the signature Dinosaur Jr guitar. It almost sounds like someone is slowly draining a balloon of all its air, but they are doing it with immense care and distortion. An elite song to start with.  

“The Lung” wastes no time getting going with a beat that makes you feel like you're on the flatbed of a truck with haybales in the middle of fall. 

The song then does this incredibly nifty thing where the speed of the song tones down slightly, but just enough so you notice it. 

After another long build, Mascis enters, “Nowhere to collapse the lung, breathes a doubt in everyone.” 

This song keeps its furious pace throughout. The guitar riffs are something to write home about on this song, with Mascis using them to fill in parts without vocals. It’s like the guitar is singing a duet with him.  

“In a Jar” starts with a fill by drummer “Murph” that immediately reels you in. There is no long build in this song.

Mascis comes in, “I'll be grazing by your window please come pat me on the head,” two seconds after the fill. 

This song is upbeat like “The Lung,” but instead of speeding along the highway at breakneck speed, the pace is more like a student driver pulling onto the highway for the first time. Unlike the student driver, though, this song has no shortage of talent and practice.

Every song on this album makes it abundantly clear that this trio is talented and this song is the highlight. This track is the one I would recommend for first-time listeners.

This album immediately caught my attention as soon as I heard “In a Jar,” but it stuck with me for its depth. 

While I only mentioned three, this album is elite front to back. 

I am always obsessed with finding music that sounds unlike anything else, and Dinosaur Jr. is just that. 

They have something for everyone.