ALBUM REVIEWS / POP

By LORRAINE ALI

June 15, 1996 12 AM PT

** J Mascis, “Martin and Me,” Reprise. Slacker deluxe J Mascis is the core of indie rock’s premier guitar band Dinosaur Jr., a trio heavily inspired by Neil Young’s Crazy Horse. Mascis’ solo debut is a live acoustic performance, and though it shows off his sweetly enticing songwriting, his shaky voice proves too precious minus the usual woolly guitar distortion behind it, and the music too pared down to frame his heartbroken lyrics. It all comes off a little too sensitive and sappy, even for Mascis.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).

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Lorraine Ali

Lorraine Ali is news and culture critic of the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she was television critic for The Times covering media, breaking news and the onslaught of content across streaming, cable and network TV. Ali is an award-winning journalist and Los Angeles native who has written in publications ranging from the New York Times to Rolling Stone and GQ. She was formerly senior writer for The Times’ Calendar section where she covered entertainment, culture, and American Arab and Muslim issues. Ali started at The Times in 2011 as music editor after leaving her post as a senior writer and music critic at Newsweek Magazine.

ALBUM REVIEWS / POP

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