I’m knocked out, stunned, by the new Sonic Youth album, Rather Ripped. I’m not one of the band’s cultists. Over the years, from the mid-’80s on, I’d hear, from friends who were, that I was missing out: They’d tell me that whatever their latest album was — “Daydream Nation”! “Goo”! — it was the album that would persuade me to join their ranks. I’d listen, feel respect for the legendary New York art-noise band’s work, but never feel like coming back for more.
So I’ve been out of the Sonic Youth orbit for a while. Maybe I missed some transformation or evolution; “Rather Ripped” is incredibly seductive — just melodic enough to engage you, just experimental enough to keep you hitting “repeat.” The guitars shimmer with lanky Lou Reed/Feelies lines; the lyrics are entirely audible; the incredibly tight rhythm section could do this in their sleep, but they’re wide awake. There is a fundamental joy working its way out in this music, in a fully audible way. I am hooked.
In other musical events, the Mountain Goats are slated to release a new album, Get Lonely, next month. But if you are impatient, there is an EP from their Australian tour titled Babylon Springs that is also a fine piece of work. If some of the chord sequences sound a tad familiar, the full-band arrangements are sparkling, the lyrics sharp, the feelings painfully intense.
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