Sonic Youth have released rare footage of a two-track set they performed with Dinosaur Jr. guitarist J Mascis in 1987.
Taking place at The Rat (aka The Rathskeller) – a Boston, Massachusetts venue which hosted such names as Talking Heads, the Pixies and Dead Kennedys prior to its closure in 1997 – the gig comprised two covers: Crime's Hot Wire My Heart and The Stooges classic I Wanna Be Your Dog. Mascis can be seen playing electric guitar on the latter.
The impromptu set also benefitted Boston-based independent music magazine Forced Exposure.
Sharing the footage to YouTube, Sonic Youth writes: “The short, unannounced SY set consists of two covers - performed on gear borrowed from Dredd Foole and the Din... Steve Albini is the MC and J Mascis joins us on additional guitar on The Stooges cover.”
Dinosaur Jr. dropped their first album in five years, Sweep It Into Space, last month, following 2016's Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not. Released through Jagjaguwar, the full-length was recorded at J Mascis's Biquiteen Studios in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was co-produced by Kurt Vile.
More recently, Mascis appeared on the latest episode of Fender's Re-Creation YouTube series. Wielding a Fender Acoustasonic Jazzmaster, the guitarist delivered a brand-new rendition of Dinosaur Jr.'s Freak Scene, taken from 1988's Bug.
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Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
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