I like bands who experiment, expand, who are always trying something new. My favorite artists—David Bowie, Talking Heads, King Crimson, the Beatles, the Who—did this; every album presented something new, took a step in a new direction. At the opposite extreme, take the Rolling Stones: they continued to innovate until sometime in the mid-70s, when they started repeating themselves, which is when I lost interest.
One the other hand, sometimes a band gets in a groove—establishes a sound and does it so well that it's welcome to repeat itself (at least for a while). (I do remember wishing Bowie would put out another album which sounded exactly like Ziggy Stardust.) Sonic Youth, right now, is such a band. Their last few albums tended to explore the same sonic territory, yet every one has been a pleasure to listen to. Their latest, The Eternal, is no exception.
There is everything you would expect from Sonic Youth here. Kim Gordon rants about sexual politics ("Sacred Trickster" and "Anti-Orgasm"). There are tributes to Beat poets ("Leaky Lifeboat" for Gregory Corso) and dead punk rockers ("Thunderclap" for Darby Crash). And there are churning, noisy guitars breaking into sudden melodic passages (throughout).
There are times when they pull a new sound out of their guitars ("Thunderclap") or find a new rhythm (the drum jam in "What We Know"), but those are window dressing. Overall, the sound is quite familiar.
If there is anything new here, it is an emphasis on songs. This is not completely new either; they have been polishing their songwriting skills for some time now. But every song on The Eternal is a fully formed song, even if most of them still leave room for various sonic freakouts.
Sonic Youth has always been about the tension between noise and melody. On The Eternal the balance leans definitely towards melody, but the tension is still there, honed to near perfection.
When a band gets their sound down this tightly, it can be a pleasure to hear more of it, for them to further refine that sound. Because it doesn't break new territory, I can't rate The Eternal as a classic Sonic Youth album, but it is still a very pleasurable listen.
Besides, I have faith in Sonic Youth. I have no doubt that they will be off in a new direction soon enough.
Artist:
www.sonicyouth.com
Download:
Sonic Youth – Sacred Trickster – [mp3]
Album:
The Eternal is out now. Buy it on Amazon.
