When the master tape of You're Living All Over Me arrived at SST, the label's production manager noticed the level on the tape was so high it was distorting ; however, Mascis confirmed it was the way he wanted the album to sound.

Guitarist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph are the band's founding and current members ; Mascis has been the group's sole continuous member.

Mascis was exhibiting an even tighter control over the band's sound, singing lead vocals on all but one song and composing the parts for Murph and Lou to play.

It is Mascis ' least favourite of the band's albums.

Despite the album's success, tension between Mascis and Barlow began interfering with the band's productivity, and in 1989, after touring in support of Bug, Barlow was kicked out of the band.

While Mascis ' guitar, voice and songwriting ensured that the album had its share of the band's old sound, it was much quieter and more layered, with more use of keyboards and acoustic guitar, and with a noticeable lack of the power-trio roar that the original lineup had been known for.

However, the band's subsequent albums would be recorded mostly by J Mascis on his own, playing everything except for the bass and some of the harmony vocals, which continued to be handled by Mike Johnson.

This included the influence of classic rock on the band's music, their use of feedback, extreme volume and the loud-quiet dynamic, and frontman Mascis ' droning vocals.

His drawl epitomised the band's slacker ethos and relaxed attitude ; author Michael Azerrad said " even Mascis seemed removed from the feelings he was conveying in the music ".

His first album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat ?, featured appearances from dozens of musicians ( many were Watt's peers from the 1980s SST era ), including Henry Rollins, Eddie Vedder, J Mascis, Carla Bozulich, Evan Dando, members of Sonic Youth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frank Black, Nirvana, Soul Asylum, Jane's Addiction, the Beastie Boys and the Screaming Trees.

In 2000, Mascis asked Watt to participate in a world tour behind Mascis ' first post-Dinosaur Jr. release, J Mascis and the Fog's More Light.

For touring purposes, Mascis first added Van Conner, and then Mike Johnson to handle the bass parts and embarked on several tours to support Green Mind, with support acts that included Nirvana.

In 1999, Mascis released the first of two solo albums under the name J Mascis and the Fog.

Recording 99 % of the instruments on the recordings, he emerged from the studio with the first J Mascis + The Fog album, More Light, an album title inspired by Mascis's growing interest in " hugging saint " Ammachi.

Mascis had worked with Watt several times before-most notably producing the final fIREHOSE album Mr. Machinery Operator ( 1993 ), on which he also contributed some guitar and vocal parts, and contributing guitar and drum performances to several songs on Watt's first solo album Ball-Hog or Tugboat ?.

During their first European tour, J Mascis + The Fog participated in a John Peel session for BBC Radio 1, during which the band recorded a medley consisting of Teenage Fanclub's " Everything Flows ", Pavement's " Range Life ", and The Ruts ' " In a Rut ".

In 2005, Mascis put his Fog project on hold in order to tend to other business, mainly the reformation of the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup, to coincide with the re-release on the Merge label of the first three Dinosaur Jr. albums that had previously been on Homestead and SST.

It is the first Dinosaur Jr. album not to feature Murph on drums, who is replaced by vocalist and guitarist J. Mascis.

The tour was a short one by Watt standards ( not even two months ) because Watt had another commitment impending-playing as a member of J Mascis and the Fog on the former Dinosaur Jr frontman's first solo tour.

The group's first tour ( dubbed the " Time To Cat And Not Mouse " tour, since Watt had just finished touring, or " sidemousing " as he calls it, as a member of J Mascis and the Fog ) in the fall of 2001 was originally scheduled to start on September 11, 2001 ; Watt was in the process of leaving his apartment to pick up Trebotic and Watson when one of his friends called him and told him to turn on the news ; the night's opening date in San Francisco was postponed until the end of the tour, and Watt would perform each night's show on the tour wearing dark sunglasses in memory of the victims of the 9 / 11 attacks.

The record is close to being a J Mascis solo album, with drummer Murph only featuring on three tracks.

Mascis later admitted that his father's death affected his writing and performance on this album, and he took three years to deliver the next Dinosaur Jr LP, 1997's Hand It Over.

Since disbanding, Mike Watt has released four solo albums and been involved in numerous musical projects including the longstanding bass duo, Dos ( with ex-Black Flag bassist and wife, Kira Roessler ), Banyan ( with Jane's Addiction drummer, Stephen Perkins ), Jay Mascis and the Fog, the Stooges and the Unknown Instructors ( along with George Hurley ).

The single featured a short lived lineup including Don Fleming and Jay Spiegel from the band Gumball, in addition to Mascis and Murph.

The new record was virtually a J. Mascis solo album, with Murph playing drums on only a few songs, as well as minimal contributions from Fleming and Spiegel, who were out of the band by the time the album was released.

Already after the release of the debut album, Come received praise from Dinosaur Jr .' s lead singer J. Mascis, Hüsker Dü's Bob Mould, and Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain.

This session is the only commercially available studio recording of the 2000 – 2001 line-up featuring Watt, and, along with a later J Mascis solo session from 2002, was released on CD by the Strange Fruit label in 2003.

Mascis suffered minor back injuries but rebounded from them fairly quickly and began work on the second J Mascis + The Fog album, Free So Free, released in 2002.

Around the " Free So Free " tour, Mascis enlisted Kyle Spence on drums and Dave Schools ( from Widespread Panic ) on bass.

Other musicians may take time from their own bands to tour or record as a sideman for another artist, such as Mike Watt with J Mascis and the Fog or Iggy and the Stooges.

Bredbury passed from the hands of Sir Richard de Vernon to the Mascis of Dunham, under whom it was held by the Fitz-Waltheofs of Stockport.

" Gerard Cosloy was excited by the completed album, but was devastated when Mascis told him the band was going to release it on SST Records.

In April 2004, Sonic Youth played a show at John Green Hall on the Smith College campus in Northampton MA with J Mascis and Sebadoh as the opening acts and the anticipation was that the two would reunite for a few Dinosaur Jr. songs.

Watt and Mascis later joined Asheton and his brother, Stooges drummer Scott Asheton, for a one-time-only performance at a Belgian festival under the name Asheton, Asheton, Mascis & Watt.

Mascis took Cosloy up on his offer to release an album and Dinosaur recorded their debut album for $ 500 at a home studio in the woods outside Northampton, Massachusetts.

During the recording process, tension emerged between Mascis and Murph because Mascis had very specific ideas for the drum parts.

Murph left the band after touring for Where You Been, leaving Mascis as the sole remaining original member.

In 2002, the two shared the stage for two shows in London, with Barlow singing I Wanna Be Your Dog along with Mascis, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton and Mike Watt, who had been performing Stooges songs as " Asheton, Asheton, Mascis and Watt ".

Later that year, he and Barlow shared the stage at benefit show for autism at Smith College organized by Barlow's mother in Northampton, Massachusetts, and played together as Deep Wound after Mascis and Sebadoh had completed their respective sets.

Matched-headstock versions generally fetch a higher price and are currently not in production, except for the special J. Mascis edition.

Mascis responded to the ad and was driven by his father to Lou Barlow's place in Westfield, MA for an audition.