The music that Sonic Youth has put out over the past decade has always had a Mobius strip quality to it. Even as they attempt the most straightforward of rock moves, they are always trailing behind their roots as one of America’s preeminent noise bands. One end tends to fold into the other and on and on until infinity.
Their latest album (and first for the indie label Matador), The Eternal is no exception, wrapping up some of the band’s most streamlined songs in washes of ringing guitar noise and moments of free-for-all chaos. What it is missing are the moments that have distinguished efforts like A Thousand Leaves or their collection of self-released albums. The tempos push and push and push forward. There’s no breathing room nor any quiet passages for the band to show off their intuitive understanding of atmospherics.
The closest they come is in the album’s closing track, an almost 10 minute long mid-tempo psych number called “Massage The History”. Focusing on a meandering acoustic guitar line and some of the most emotive singing that Kim Gordon has ever done for the band, “Massage” has a soft, pliable quality that is missing from the rest of The Eternal. It’s a welcome break from the breakneck pace of the 11 songs that proceed it, but comes way too late in the proceedings. It’s less of a gentle comedown than an exhausted drop into fitful slumber.
[...] Album Review: Sonic Youth – The Eternal (Matador) | pampelmoose … [...]
June 9th, 2009 at 8:28 pmNot working hard to disguise their age, are they?
June 10th, 2009 at 3:09 am