TUESDAY

J Mascis’ Dinosaur Jr. leveled the world in 1987 with You’re Living All Over Me. That album created indie rock and stoner rock; it injected devastating songwriting emotion into equally devastating volume; it openly cribbed from underground metal—and it did all of these things years before they were co-opted by every ham ’n’ egger on the block. Thing is, that was Dinosaur Jr.’s second album. The 1985 self-titled debut (made when Mascis was just 19) fiddled with alt-country, hardcore, and ’70s sludge and is a still-overlooked classic in its own right. Many feel that Mascis lost the magic after 1991’s major-label one-man Green Mind—the name of Mascis’ solo show for a while—but the fact is that he has never, ever sucked. Those last Dino albums are hit-and-miss, yes, but at least Mascis never made a NYC Ghosts & Flowers. He formed the Fog in 2000; we’re two albums in (the last, Feel So Free, was released two years ago), and each is far stronger than late-period Dinosaur Jr. With a shifting lineup for each go-round, Mascis (pictured, left) is now backed by Kyle Spence of the Tom Collins and Dave Schools—who, you might be amused to learn, is the plus-size bass player for Widespread Panic. J Mascis + the Fog play with (The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope and Tony Scalzo at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, on the Black Cat’s Mainstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $15. (202) 667-7960. (Andrew Earles)