Rather Ripped

Sonic Youth from L to R: Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley and Thurston Moore.

I've been listening to the new Sonic Youth record, "Rather Ripped", an awful lot lately and I can't get enough of it! I can see this album fast becoming one of my all time favorite Sonic Youth records, right up there with 1998's grossly underrated "A Thousand Leaves". It's been recieving all sorts of rave reviews and much has been made about it being their most accessible work since the days of "Goo" and "Dirty". This is true to some extent. All but two of the songs ("Turqoise Boy" and "Pink Steam") clock in at under five minutes and "Reena", "Incinerate", "What A Waste", "Jams Run Free" and "Lights Out" are all amongst the catchiest songs they've ever recorded. But let's be clear about this, you couldn't possibly mistake this album being the work of anybody BUT Sonic Youth. All their distinctive trademarks are in tact throughout- the sexy grooves, the chiming guitars, the droning feedback, the playful yet twisted lyrical sensibility.... It's just that it's all wrapped up in a concise, downright melodic package this time around.

It's perhaps a bit simplistic to call this Sonic Youth's "pop" record (although many critics are doing just that) when the band has long been capable of melodies that are downright breathtaking in their beauty. But perhaps never before has Sonic Youth released a record quite as concise, quite as tight as this. The feedback drenched jammin' appears but only in short, controlled bursts. And never have Thurston and Kim sounded quite so confident in their singing. I remember when "A Thousand Leaves" came out an old friend and fellow Sonic Youth fan remarked to me, "Thurston has learned to sing!" And he was right. Thurston HAD learned to sing. So it appears has Kim.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if their next record sounds nothing like this. That's part of the beauty of Sonic Youth. You never quite know what to expect. Who possibly would have expected them to have gone in the more accessible direction of "Goo" and "Dirty" in the first place? And just when the music world was getting used to a more accessible Sonic Youth they went to back to a much more experimental approach that lasted from 1994's "Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star" on through 2004's "Sonic Nurse". Then when we least expect it they hit us with an album filled with three to four minute "pop" songs! Perhaps their most accessible album yet!

The bottom line is whether they're exploring their more melodic side, their more experimental side, or as is often the case in recent years, a synthesis containing elements of both, nobody can match Sonic Youth in terms of sheer, unbridled creativity. This is the band's twenty first album and there's not a clunker in the bunch! That's quite a run. If anything, after twenty five years as a band they just keep getting better with age! I'm sure they'll release another album in a year or two, as they always do. And I'm sure it will be every bit as brilliant as the rest. That just blows my mind. I don't quite know how they do it but the depths of their creativity appears to know no bounds....

Click here for the "Incinerate" video.