Dinosaur Jr. formed as Dinosaur in 1983 in Amherst, Massachusetts by
J Mascis (guitar and vocals) and his high school classmate
Lou Barlow (bass guitar), following the break-up of their
hardcore punk band
Deep Wound. Shortly afterwards, Murph (
Emmett Patrick Murphy, drums) joined them. The band changed its name following the release of its debut album Dinosaur in 1985, after a band called
Dinosaurs, featuring ex-members of
Country Joe and the Fish and
Jefferson Airplane, threatened them with legal action.