Soundbites: Sonic Youth

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Sonic Youth songs can usually be categorized in three ways:
noisy, lengthy and often difficult. After nearly 25 years of doing
things this way, it would seem odd for an established band to
change up a winning formula. Yet with its newest release,
“Rather Ripped,” Sonic Youth do exactly that and
succeed admirably.

“Rather Ripped” is a different beast than any Sonic
Youth album: It contains just one song longer than six minutes,
only one noise-filled song intro, and even one radio-ready
single.

If 1990’s “Goo” and 1992’s
“Dirty” were Geffen Records’ attempts to wedge
Sonic Youth into the coming grunge explosion, then “Rather
Ripped” could be viewed as the band’s entry into the
next generation of indie. The album’s first single,
“Incinerate,” for instance, combines Thurston
Moore’s crooning with a steady, soothing melody. There are no
guitar freak-outs and no extended feedback explosions. “I
ripped your heart out from your chest / replaced it with a grenade
blast,” Moore sings, reassuring listeners that the band can
still back a sweet sound with eccentric imagery.

“Rather Ripped” represents bassist/vocalist Kim
Gordon’s strongest contribution to a Sonic Youth album in at
least a decade. Album opener “Reena” finds Gordon
singing a genuinely heartfelt song that simultaneously declares her
love for someone (likely husband Moore) and relates an ambiguous
experience with a woman she met (or … something).

“Turquoise Boy” is another strong track, stretching
out past the six-minute mark as Gordon sings softly over a sonic
sea of dreamy guitar riffs. It’s refreshing to hear Gordon so
subdued here and taking a break from what she does best ““
typically, she sings the band’s more hard-edged songs, but on
tracks like this one, she shows more range than she has in some
time.

Other standouts include “Sleepin’ Around,”
with chunky, distorted guitars that recall the dirge-like qualities
of 1985’s “Bad Moon Rising,” and “Do You
Believe in Rapture?”, which simultaneously manages to sound
minimalist and extravagant.

The only true problem with “Rather Ripped” is the
somewhat light presence of guitarist Lee Ranaldo. On past albums,
the interplay between Ranaldo and Moore has been the band’s
most musically fascinating aspect, with the duo’s well-known
knack for unorthodox guitar tunings taking center stage. On this
album, Ranaldo contributes only one song, “Rats,”
which, while decent, pales in comparison to Moore’s and
Gordon’s songs. It’s a testament to how strong Moore
and Gordon’s work is, however, as the album doesn’t
suffer without a heavy presence from the stalwart Ranaldo.

What is particularly interesting is that this is the kind of
album that, had Sonic Youth made it 16 years ago, would likely have
propelled them into the mainstream.

Not that any of that matters. “Rather Ripped” is one
of the best albums in the Sonic Youth catalog, no matter the
era.

““ Mark Humphrey

E-mail Humphrey at [email protected].