WHO would of thought that 30 years on from Dinosaur Jr's initial fracture, J Mascis and Lou Barlow would still be making music together.
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In fact, the second coming of the US alt-rock innovators, which begun when the original trio of Mascis (guitar, vocals), Barlow (bass) and Murph (drums) reformed in 2005, has been the most prolific period of the band.
Sweep It Into Space is Dinosaur Jr's 12th album and first in five years.
Dinosaur Jr acolyte Kurt Vile was called in to co-produce the album and plays 12-string guitar on the country-folk I Ran Away, which could easily sit alongside Tom Petty's finest material.
Fans that have indulged on Mascis' sludge of distorted guitar will find plenty to enjoy as the album doesn't deviate far from Dinosaur Jr's well-stomped path.
However, several tracks like the keyboard-driven Take It Back is a brightly-coloured pop song, flavoured with lashings of Americana seasoning.
Then there's the Barlow-penned Garden, which builds to a lush chorus featuring one of the prettiness guitar lines Mascis has performed on record.
But for exhilarating rock riffage you can't go past I Met The Stones which bounces out of the blocks with Murph's thumping drums and Mascis' crunching power chords before he launches into a wailing solo.
Lyrically Sweep It Into Space finds Mascis in a positive headspace. Tracks like I Ran Away, And Me and N Say are melodic love songs that could sound overly simplistic without the character of Mascis' weathered drawl.
It might be nearly 40 years since Dinosaur Jr hatched, but there's no signs of ageing.
3.5 stars