If I could go back to the early and mid-90s, I’d probably make a point to pay more attention to Dinosaur Jr. Instead, I had my head buried in hip-hop – A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Digable Planets, etc. Of course, I don’t regret that path, but I feel I have no history, no sense of attachment to a band that inspired so much of what I listen to today. (And their drummer’s name is Murph. MURPH! Maybe we’re related.)

You can draw the logical conclusion that I also missed the boat on Sebadoh. So when I got the reissue of III last year, I knew it was a big deal, but I probably couldn’t appreciate it to its fullest extent.

And that’s a shame because I could have used a song like The Freed Pig all these years – its bitter, angry beauty. “Now you will be free / with no sick people tugging on your sleeve / Your big head has that more room to grow / A glory I will never know.” Yow. I often wonder if Lou Barlow ever brought this up with J. Mascis when Dinosaur Jr. reunited. “Hey, look, about that song … ”

Anyway, Cassettes Won’t Listen (aka Jason Drake), in conjunction with Music For Robots, is offering a free EP of ’90s covers called One Alternative, on which The Freed Pig is included.

I question whether such a great song needs to be covered/remade in this way, but I give CWL the benefit of the doubt because his remix of El-P’s Flyentology was aces.

Go download the EP here.

• Sebadoh | The Freed Pig
• Cassettes Won’t Listen | The Freed Pig (Sebadoh cover)