J. Mascis Releases Cover Of Tom Petty’s “Don’t Do Me Like That”
After being recorded performing the song at a karaoke bar last year, the Dinosaur Jr frontman officially releases his cover across digital platforms
Last July, I got a message from my friend Devon, which included a link to a video of Dinosaur Jr frontman, J Mascis, singing a Tom Petty cover at a karaoke bar located in the seaside town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The clip, which was recorded vertically on a cell phone, was posted on Facebook by a man named Ryan Bakerink; a local who just happened to be in the establishment,at the time, and managed to catch it for posterity. Bakerbrink enthusiastically captioned his post by stating, “When you’re at a bar in Provincetown, MA and J. Mascis from the amazing band Dinasour Jr[ sic] randomly goes up and sings karaoke. Life is rad.”
The song that Mascis performed was “Don’t Do Me Like That” off of the classic Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album, Damn The Torpedos, which, incidentally, will turn 40-years-old in October. The video was later reposted onto the YouTube account of the Dinosaur Jr fan community, FreakScene.net.
The footage is notable for a few reasons. Aside from the place being almost entirely empty, you can see a woman get up and casually leave the room in the middle of the artist’s rendition and, at the very end, it appears that a drag queen in fishnets takes the stage as the host of the evening. That last part is only surprising, because of how mundane, run of the mill, and uneventful the situation in that place seems otherwise. J himself, is somewhat of a contradiction, in various ways. If you now who he is, then his long white hair, glasses, and standard MISHKA attire is a dead giveaway. But, if you are completely unfamiliar with Dinosaur Jr, then his personality is reserved enough to keep him in the background. For the most part, his low energy demeanor draws little attention. He’s also known for his incredible prowess on the guitar, but his laid-back approach to performing is so nonchalant and relaxed, that it only makes the fact that he’s shredding the fuck out of his axe while exerting the minimal level of energy possible, while stationed in front of a massive arrangement of Marshall stacks, only that much more surreal.
The one thing that’s hard to ignore about the karaoke video is that Mascis‘s seemingly effortless vocal delivery is perfect for the tune. It’s not really much of a surprise, of course, when you consider the great covers that he’s delivered from artists like The Cure, Edie Brickell, and Mazzy Star, over the years. He’s J Mascis. He knows what he’s doing, and he always makes them his own. For those of us thinking about what a perfect addition “Don’t Do Me Like That” would be to officially work into the repertoire, we’re in luck. Earlier today, J dropped a studio version of his interpretation of the song, across digital platforms. The featured cover art is a water color portrait of the man himself painted by drummer/multi instrumentalist, John Maloney (Chelsea Light Moving, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Wet Tuna, Pasquarosa-Moloney, Six Organs Of Admittance, Thurston Moore, etc.), who also operates as Mascis and Dinosaur Jr‘s tour manager. If an official video and/or physical release is on he way for the track, is something we’ll just have to wait on to find out.
J‘s latest solo album, Elastic Days, is available now through Sub Pop Records.