When Dinosaur Jr. took a hiatus, one might have wondered if it was for a lack of desire to make new music. Now it looks as though J. Mascis just needed some people to jam with.
Mascis has teamed up Cobra Verde's Tim Parnin, John Petkovic and Witch's Dave Sweetapple to create the “supergroup” Sweet Apple. The four have been friends for some time, but the band wasn't created under such cheery circumstances.
Singer-guitarist John Petkovic got in his car heading eastward days
after the passing of his mother–to smoke cigarettes, listen to music
and clear his head. He didn't even know where he was going or where
he'd end up. He ended up in New England, the home of long-time friends Dave
Sweetapple and J. Mascis, who told John to start writing some songs so
they could start a band. Within weeks, and after recruiting Cobra Verde
guitarist Tim Parnin they started working on an album.“I hadn't even played the guitar for months,” says Petkovic. “And then,
out of the blues, there were all these songs just coming out.”“I tell people that I saved John's life by starting this band,” says Mascis. “But they don’t believe me.”
The result of these jam sessions is Love and Desperation, a 12-song debut long player recorded in Cleveland and Massachusetts and mixed by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth and The Hold Steady) and Don Depew (Cobra Verde, Guided by Voices).
Love and Desperation will be released March 30, 2010 on Tee Pee Records.
