http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/...006-06-28.html
Since their early days as NYC’s premier experimental noisemakers, Sonic Youth has epitomized what might be called mainstream avant-garde. They’ve always had a solid place in the public consciousness, with a multi-decade career and cumulative album sales that could make even the frothiest pop artist blush. Still, that hasn’t stopped them from taking an already weird sound and turning it even weirder over the years. Sonic Youth has at least managed to keep the "sonic" part of their name consistently surprising and relevant, which makes their latest release, "Rather Ripped," something of a shocker. The odd part is, it’s not shocking because it’s so challenging, but rather because it’s surprisingly listenable. Yes folks, Sonic Youth has finally made their pop album.
Which is not to say that Sonic Youth is going to be making Jessica Simpson nervous any time soon. Any record by Sonic Youth, even a pop record, is going to be chock full of ambient flourishes, strange tunings, unusual song construction and general weirdness, and "Rather Ripped" will leave longtime fans at least partially satisfied with their quota of this sort of thing. What they won’t expect, however, are the curiously clean and catchy guitar licks of such tunes as "Reena" and "Incinerate." The band has long flirted with catchy hooks and memorable tunes — after all, no band gets really famous without them — but in the past they’ve conspicuously buried them beneath sloshing waves of electronic noise and bizarre instrumentation, as if to distract the listener from the shameful secret that all bands, even Sonic Youth, must rely at some level on music.
Here, probably for the first time in their career, they fully embrace the possibility that songwriting can be a legitimate star of the show, and the experimental flourishes can be a supporting player. And yeah, the band seems to be having a surprisingly fun time playing in this sandbox. Still, Sonic Youth is a tragically late arrival on this scene. Sure, it’s nice to hear vocalists Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore cut loose a bit on driving mid-tempo rockers like "What a Waste" or "Sleepin’ Around" (respectively). They’re both fine tunes, filled with tense electronics and hidden lyrical menace. Still, they’re nothing you haven’t heard before, which to a large extent is Sonic Youth’s main selling point.
Maybe that’s the point, though. Sonic Youth, like that other giant of the avant-garde pop, Radiohead, has been all the way to the edge, and now they’re drawing back a bit. Perhaps this record is Sonic Youth, finding their mastery of technique now established, returning to using the tools for the sake of pure expression rather than using them for partially experimental purposes. The resulting musical concoction is, at times, absolutely sublime, as in the curiously gentle religious meditation, "Do You Believe in Rapture," which compares favorably with the Velvet Underground at its most potent: a schizophrenic mix of gentle warbling tune and brutal lyricism. The aforementioned "Sleepin’ Around" is also a great addition to Sonic Youth’s catalogue, filled to the brim with loathing and grime, all just barely suppressed in the vocals and muscular instrumentation. Later in the album, lurking instrumental arrangement bring tracks like "Pink Steam" (which waits until around the five minute mark to bring in vocals) to sinister life. Even somewhat forgettable tracks like "Incinerate" are, as the album title implies, lithe and trim little nuggets of twitching, propulsive cool. Although the lyrics sometimes disappoint, for the most part this album demonstrates a high level of professionalism on just about every front.
In total, "Rather Ripped" could be an interesting footnote to a career of a focused, purpose-driven avant-garde band or a pleasing grace note prelude to a new chapter in the career of said band. Sonic Youth has long ago shown an innate ability to defy predictions as to what they will do next, so this reviewer will not attempt one here. Suffice to say, if "Rather Ripped" is any indication, Sonic Youth has channeled the wisdom a long career of experimentation brings into deft and flawlessly toned musical synthesis. They may no longer be youths, but their rate of musical growth may well turn out to be supersonic.
5/5