Wednesday 25 February 2015

Another Dinosaur Jr. post

There's little explanation to this one, I bought a few Dinosaur Jr. 7''s and thought you all should see them. Nothing crazy rare or expensive, but definitely worth having. I kind of got into this band way later than I should have, and so my DinoJr collection is massively lacking. Most of the LP's I own are represses and until recently, the only singles I owned were from the 'Visitors' box set I did a post on some time back. It seems a day now doesn't go by nowadays when I'm not sticking on something by this great band; so I thought I'd start hitting on some of the singles that weren't already in the box set. There's a few to go through, so we'll get to it.


Dinosaur Jr - The Wagon - Sub Pop - 1st Press - White /9800 

I believe this is the last record that Maura jasper designed for the band, and is a world away from the standard caliber of her work for Dinosaur Jr. I still dig it though! Green Mind is a way better album than most people give it credit for.
I want to grab some of the Sub Pop 7''s, and this seemed like a good place to start. I don't really know why, but there's a real sense of history in a Sub Pop release from this kind of time frame. 


B-Side // Back Cover 

Notice that although the cover states the name change of Dinosaur Jr. both the A and B Side labels have only Dinosaur printed on them. Large Hole 7''s too, and I believe all came this way. It's easier to see on this side that the artwork is based from a photograph that has then been over-painted to create all these weird effects. It looks super strange, and the red text over the top really throws things too. Sub Pop logo in the bottom left. 


Close up of the back text. 


Dinosaur Jr. - Get Me - Blanco Y Negro - 1st Press - Black /?

This record is one big colour clash. Purple text on a messy green cover, I guess it is what it is. I believe this release only ever saw a Euro pressing with no American counterpart. Barcodes on centre labels are a weird idea. I don't like them at the best of times, and the upside of not interrupting the art is a bonus I guess? It just makes the centre label seem really jammed with information this way though. This single was from the Where You Been LP. I bought their albums in a super strange order, but I like the poppier edge on this record quite a bit. It kind of was all Mascis at this point though. 


Back Cover // B-Side 

Promo sticker on the back sleeve. This is probably going to get ripped off as it makes it no more or less special; and I kind of like this back cover art. Which brings me on to the point of why have the barcode on the centre label if you're just sticking it on the sleeve anyway? It's strange to think that this 7'' is nearly as old as I am, there's honestly a couple months in it. The mushy green text in the centre of the sleeve sets out the track-listing and backing vocal credits. 


Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready - PIAS - 1st Press - Black /? 

Next up, things take a little bit of a left turn. We jump forward 15 years or so, get back to the classic  lineup, release a single sided one track promo and house it in a dust sleeve. 
The information on the centre label is mostly licensing credits, and next to it is a PIAS (Play it Again Sam) logo. Being a promo I'm not sure if that would affect the pressing numbers, or even a guess at what they are. This band are pretty big, surely a couple thousand at least are kicking about? 


Back Cover 

About as plain as you can get, black labels and no grooves. Not even some art or text to talk about! 

What more needs to be said? This band are brilliant, and I know it's going to take a good long while before I even have one of everything. Three 7''s from vastly different points in Dinosaur Jr.'s lifespan; and once I grab a few more singles, you can bet I'll be doing another similar post!










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