SONIC
YOUTH – The Eternal (www.matadorrecords.com)
by Paul Silver
My, Sonic Youth has traveled a long road since
their first release on Neutral Records back
in 1982. They started out as a “No Wave”
noise band, and quickly evolved into one of
the best indie-post-punk bands of the ‘80s.
“Bad Moon Rising” from that era
is still one of my favorites, especially the
tracks “Brave Men Run” and “Death
Valley 69.” Later they continued to
evolve, reaching the pinnacle of indie success
with Enigma Records’
Daydream Nation,
which propelled them to major label status.
They’re now back in the indie camp with
Matador, and this is their first post-Geffen
release, and their first release in three
years. And they’re playing stuff that’s
a lot calmer and more accessible than they
did in those early days, to be sure. People
have bandied about the word “ambient”
in connection with this album, but I have
to disagree. Yes, there’s a lot of nice,
calm, soothing music here, but “ambient”
implies stuff that is meant to be in the background
to set a mood, rather than requiring active
listening.
The Eternal, for the most
part, retains the trademarked Sonic Youth
dissonance as a tension creation device. Notable
exceptions to this are “Walkin Blue”
and “Massage the History,” the
last two tracks on the disc. Both are very
relaxing tracks, that sort of float around.
But I still wouldn’t call them ambient.
The first two tracks on the disc, “Sacred
Trickster” and “Anti-Orgasm,”
are rocking tracks, loaded with the angular
dissonance we’ve come to expect, along
with the atonal vocals that are so effective.
The guitar work cuts like a knife. I really
like the hooks on “Leaky Lifeboat.”
Besides the usual dissonance, there’s
some interesting high pitched guitar work
at the start and end of the track. Overall,
I would say that this album, while it doesn’t
break any new ground – it could be argued
that it merely rehashes old SY stylistic themes,
albeit in a more “adult” manner
(why do they still call themselves Sonic “Youth”
some 28 years later?) – it’s still
a solidly enjoyable listen. – Paul Silver
