Several Shades of Why

J Mascis Several Shades Of Why on LP + MP3 from Sub Pop

Dinosaur Jr. Leader's First Solo Acoustic Album

Gorgeous Arrangements, Delicate Emotions, and Brilliant Melodies Pepper Guitar Hero's Batch of Original Tunes

In the quarter century since he founded Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis has created some of the era’s signature songs, albums and styles. The laconically-based roar of his guitar, drums and vocals have driven a long string of bands such as Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Gobblehoof, Velvet Monkeys, the Fog, Witch, and Sweet Apple. He has also guested on innumerable sessions. But Several Shades of Why, recorded at Amherst, Massachusetts’ Bisquiteen Studios, is J’s first solo studio record, and it is an album of incredible beauty, performed with a delicacy not always associated with his work.

Nearly all acoustic, Several Shades of Why was created with the help of a few friends. Notable amongst them are Kurt Vile, Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mount Zion), Kurt Fedora (long-time collusionist), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), Matt Valentine (The Golden Road), and Suzanne Thorpe (Wounded Knees).

Together in small mutable groupings, they conjure up classic sounds ranging from English-tinged folk to drifty, West Coast-style singer/songwriters. But every track, every note even, bears that distinct Mascis watermark, both in the shape of the tunes and the glorious rasp of the vocals. Ten brilliant tunes that quietly grow and expand until they fill your brain with the purest pleasure.

"Mascis’ first solo acoustic album and Sub Pop debut, the ten-song set further exposes the beautiful tunefulness and pained emotionalism at the root of his craft. Many of Mascis’ best songs over the past 20 years capture the lifetime-lasting wounds related to longing, wondering, and searching. Such emotional themes recur on Several Shades of Why, which finds the singer/guitarist striving for degrees of destination, closure, companionship, and certainty without ever arriving at any agreed-upon understandings or firm conclusions."
--Bob Gendron, TONE Audio, Issue 35, February 2011

J Mascis Several Shades Of Why Track Listing:

1.  Listen To Me
2.  Several Shades Of Why
3.  Not Enough
4.  Very Nervous and Love
5.  Is It Done
6.  Make It Right
7.  Where Are You
8.  Too Deep
9.  Can I
10. What Happened