You're Living All Over Me

33⅓ Main Series #82

by Nick Attfield

This is an in-depth study of the visceral slacker classic from 1987, an album that influenced enormously the nascent alternative scene. Dinosaur Jr, the stereotypical slackers. Mascis, Barlow, Murph (just Murph): three early-twenty somethings still overburdened by a torpid adolescence and a disastrous dress sense. With battered guitar, bass, and kit, they carry around a catalogue of songs that betrays identities half-formed at best, schizoid at worst. But listen. "1987", a new album, a snapshot of a moment when a furious musical intensity swung upwards and pushed their lyrics and Mascis' vocal whine far into the margins. Searing riffs, mountainous solos, and the tightest of fills - underpinned by stream-of-consciousness structures and a palette of crazed effects - steal the show. These three build a one-off sound that stirred up the hardening alternative mainstream and drove it to distraction. "You're Living All Over Me": supposedly Mascis' indictment of what it was like to tour in a van with these other two misfits, but also testimony to the obsession - an itch, a disease - that the band's disengagement from their world had produced. This record cares so little it cares a lot. "33 1/3" is a series of short books about a wide variety of albums, by artists ranging from James Brown to the Beastie Boys. Launched in September 2003, the series now contains over 60 titles and is acclaimed and loved by fans, musicians and scholars alike. It was only a matter of time before a clever publisher realized that there is an audience for whom "Exile on Main Street" or "Electric Ladyland" are as significant and worthy of study as "The Catcher in the Rye" or "Middlemarch"..."The series, which now comprises 29 titles with more in the works, is freewheeling and eclectic, ranging from minute rock-geek analysis to idiosyncratic personal celebration". ("The New York Times Book Review", 2006).

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Punk, Rock N Roll

Paperback

First published May 8, 2011

Reviews

[Geoff]

Why didn't you jerks tell me this book existed?? This is one my favorite records of all time!

[Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A big fan of the album but this book about it is a bit of a let down. It's interesting to read about Dinosaur Jr. but a lot things found in here can be read in Michael Azzerad's excellent "Our Band Could Be Your Life". I've always found the 33 1/3 series a bit hit or miss, and this one never really lands.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite book in the 33 1/3 series.

[Stewart Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great album by one of the best rock bands of the last half century, but not necessarily an essential book. The author never says much that fans don’t already know, and he rarely reaches any meaningful conclusions... which is fine, except for the fact that this thing occasionally gets lost up its own ass, reaching for a-ha moments when the entire appeal of Dinosaur Jr. is that they don’t need theatrics to make excellent records.

If I wasn’t already a huge fan, I’d probably be more impressed. But as of right now, this is just decent, nothing more than fine.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of sentence fragments. Lots of fug. Enjoyable enough.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dino is one of my favorite bands and YLAOM is an unimpeachable classic. Attfield has some interesting perspectives on the music and provides some background you might not have heard before about the band, but stumbles occasionally with what appear to me to be misheard lyrics and waffling on his own reaction and understanding of the music. The positives are that it made me want to listen to the record again and it kept me reading, but if it were a out a band/record that wasn’t so important to me, I might have dropped off. Not bar, not great. Good for fans of the band. Listen to the record, get over yourself about the vocals.

[Yoav Arbiv · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first 33 1/3 book. I didn’t really know what to expect though I really do love this album. The author’s tone sometimes leant a bit into blogboy territory but his passion for the band and their scene really comes through. The essays are really evocative and thoughtful and do a good job pairing up the band’s story to their sound. As someone who’s not as knowledgeable about the scene and the band’s mythos, though, I found myself wanting a bit more meat on the bones.

All in all, I think this added a lot of great texture to one of my favourites. :)

[Ralphie Serpico · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my favorite album ever and I was kind of disappointed how sometimes it felt like he wasn't talking about the music at all. More of a memoir about the band as a whole over the first 3 records. Also, he kind of writes as if he was friends with these people retelling on their behalf. You're not in the band lil bro. Just talk about the music nephew.

[Rezo Pheradze · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very well written, with professional wording and great interviews. But in some moments I felt it was just too complex, maybe because I was looking for a bit more slacker and 'fanboy' attitude. But nonetheless, its an essential read if you're into Dinosaur Jr.

[Douglas Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty decent shot at putting a brilliant album in context, thankfully stays away from "This band/album saved my life" territory of many of the books in this series. One if the best headphones and a bong albums ever ✌️

[Jonathan Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Attfield chronicles Dinosaur Jr.'s history with, obviously, a heavy emphasis on You're Living All Over Me. If you're a fan and don't know the band's history, this is a great place to start. A good follow-up to this would be Michael Azzerad's "Our Band Could Be Your Life".

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information and content was really good, but the writing seemed a little amateur to me and too focused on describing how they looked for my taste.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always loved Sebadoh but never really listened to Dinosaur Jr, so reading this book made me listen to some really great music. Not the most in-depth of the series, but still a quick, fun read.

[Jim Rawlinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the 33 1/3 series. And I appreciate the deep dive into their early history this provides. My only complaints are the author mostly talks about the early band releases in general and not really in depth on this album, kind of jumps all over. They also seem to really want to focus on the lyrics, when even J keeps saying that's not ehat the band is about. Also, this is a minor gripe, but I always think it's pretentious when people refer to the band exclusively as "Dinosaur (no Jr)". They had one release under that name, and 40 years under the other. Stop.

That said, a must read for Dinosaur Jr fans.

[Ian Doreian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a fever dream of a week, this worked perfectly as flu companion. Rabbit or grab it

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book is primarily about Dinosaur Jr's seminal album, but it is also a good look at the band and its history as a whole. I always did like Dinosaur Jr, and several of my favorite songs of theirs are on You're Living All Over Me - In a Jar, Raisans, and Little Fury Things, especially. I listened to them a lot in high school and college. Their brand of alienation, apathy, and melancholy social/romantic bewilderment was especially appealing back then and I still find their music good to listen to.
But I never knew much about Dinosaur Jr beyond listening to their music*, so this book was quite illuminating for me. Attfield gives a very good history of the band's early days and a nice overview of the members' lives up through the early 90s. I especially appreciated getting a new perspective on Dinosaur Jr's influences and their relationships with other bands and styles. Attfield is also quite good at describing and analyzing the songs on You're Living All Over Me in terms of musical features, overall style, and expressive themes. This book was a great way to get re-acquainted with music I hadn't listened to very much in quite a while.

*I grew up before the internet - it was just emerging at the end of my college years. Back in those days, it was much harder to get information on alternative bands. In fact, in my youth, listening to obscure bands made one a freak/nerd/geek rather than a hipster. You can all get off my lawn now. :)

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a very-late-comer to this album. But when I finally found it, it brought up some resonant musical-emotional feelings that hadn't been tapped into for over a decade. While Attfield's examination doesn't quite tap into that awkward ecstasy, it does reveal some important and often overlooked aspects of Dinosaur Jr. Most strikingly, Attfield shows that their art is so artless and unassuming in a sea of crappy and self-important grunge and thrash, and is one of a few beacons (Minutemen and Sonic Youth, a few others) of good American music.

Notes:

Attfield's passion is evident and you can see the tracking lines of wear on the picture of his VHS copy of 1991: The Year Punk Broke. The analysis makes clear something I hadn't realized, that Dinosaur Jr's appeal comes from a certain artlessness that transcends pretension and gets at pure feeling. The songs sound born rather than made.

J's tendency to cram in many variations and different parts into each of his songs puts him in league with early Springsteen, where every song must be an opus. Lou and J are heralds of two important indie rock archetypes, respectively, the effusive enthusiast and the reticent genius. The idea of The Hang is a lot like the Minutemen's We Jam Econo, a brotherly endeavor made legendary by music.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a pretty easy read, one worthy of such a great band. If anything, I left reading this book still with thoughts of bewilderment in regards to J. Mascis. He comes off as a genius of sorts, but one we'll never completely get to know. A decent look into the organization and construction of a great album.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is much better than the Let It Be book and closer to what I like to see in these 33 1/3 books. My only minor complaint is the short shrift Attfield gives to the non-Barlow years of the band, he acts as if the whole gap between Bug and the 2006 reunion doesn't even exist. But the insight he does have on the classic Dinosaur line-up is pretty great.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's one of my all time favourite albums.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better 33 1/3s I've read. Great album, too.

[Damian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super disappointing.