Breaking up is hard to do, but staying broken up was even harder for Dinosaur Jr.

Once considered to be the band du jour for alternative aficionados in the early 1990s, the post-punk band from Amherst, Mass. -- J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Emmett Murphy, better known as Murph -- did what most bands do and split in 1995, vowing to never play together again.

However, even a decade-long layoff did nothing to dull the chemical buzz Mascis, Barlow and Murph got when they played together.

Together again since 2005, Dinosaur Jr. is back on top with their latest album Farm, which hit the stores in 2009. After a 10-year layoff, these middle-aged punks are finally hitting a high stride and proving you can go back again.

"We're like a cat with nine lives," says Murph from his home in Amherst. "We've grown into ourselves. We were flying by the seat of our pants the first time around. This time, we know what we're doing."

The band recorded its first album, Dinosaur, in 1985. Ear-bleedingly loud with distorted instrumentals, the album became a favourite of Sonic Youth. But it was the release of their second album, You're Living All Over Me, in 1987 that put the band among alternative rock's elite.

But then, the band fell prey to the two major killers of great bands, inflated egos and creative differences. Barlow, the band's second songwriter, split for his own band Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion.

Mascis struggled to duplicate the band's former magic with the 1991 release Green Mind before packing it in completely in 1995.

It wasn't until 2005 and an appearance on The Late Late Show that Mascis and Barlow officially reunited and the band once considered one of the most influential bands American since Buffalo Tom was together again.

Since then, the band's gotten older, and much better, recording Beyond, their first album of new material in almost 10 years, in 2007, and Farm, their "biggest, meatiest" album, in 2009.

"We're a real band again. Like wine, we've gotten better with age," the 45-year-old drummer says. "We have the same energy as when we were young but we're more adult and know what we're doing now. We've grown into ourselves."

"We were pioneers in the 1990s," he adds. "Now, we're a working band. The scene has lost some of its romance, probably because we're older. It's natural. But it's still a thrill playing I Want You to Know and Pieces, two of my favourite tunes, live in a packed venue."

Since the album's release, Dinosaur Jr. have been touring steadily across Europe and the U.S. and Canada this winter before heading to Australia and Europe.

"Yeah, as soon as the snow flies, we tour Canada," Murph laughs. "We like playing remote places where people are less cynical."

Mascis releases a new solo record later this year and the band hopes to have a new album ready for 2011. That is, if they're still together.