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Originally Posted by Savage Clone
Neither. I liked both of them at different points in the distant past but none of this music has aged well at all. For having a $15,000 guitar rig, Mascis' tone is absolutely unlistenable and horrible. The tasteless playing doubly so. And I like guitar solos and always have. Never understood why him and the guy from built to spill got a pass during the era when guitar solos we're so out of fashion because neither of them merited that status.
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Whoah Whoah Whoah....
Ok, first off, those are really two different eras. Dino got a “pass” during the ‘80s because hardcore and college rock boom because a) they laid their hardcore dues; b) they incorporated hardcore and punk elements into their music; and c) the soloing was kitschy and insane and felt somehow like part of the punk/noise/sludge (partially because of their connection to other noisey and sludgy bands like Sonic Youth, among others)
So... that’s why. It’s because very few people were doing it, and Dino thrashed like unholy fuck in a way punk kids could enjoy.
Now, Doug Martsch and Built to spill are really a different deal, from a different era, even if it was only half a decade later. And in the early- to mid-‘90s, guitar solos weren’t exactly taboo anymore. Indie rock was a proper thing, and Doug was and is a virtuosic player who weaved soloing into relatable college rock tracks, so... again, gave people who had few guitar heroes a guitar hero.
And if you don’t think Martssch is worthy of the attention, I don’t know what to say to that.
Really, “Perfeft from Now On” is one of the best guitar-records of our generation. And like Mascis chopped his soloing up in a way that made it work with a hardcore punk “presentation,” BTS did the same with indie and college rock. And they took inspiration from transcendently cool artists like Neil You f and Dark Horse and Dino themselves.
Martsch was given a pass because he brought a layered and complex approach to the craft and managed to use his guitar to evoke any mood necessary.
Which really wasn’t THAT out of place at the time (Modest Mouse did it too, a bit later, and Yo La Tengo had been doing it, and indeed Lee Ronaldo has been doing it).
I guess short answer is they got away with it because they did it well.
I don’t listen to Dino much either anymore, or Built to spill, but fuck me if both artists didn’t make guitar solos sound cool again.