Sonic Youth Gossip - View Single Post

Moshe · 06.15.2006, 09:23 PM

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/f...lz1w15sonic.ht

25 years into the relationship, Sonic Youth gives fans a lovely present, 'Rather Ripped'

By David L. Coddon
UNION-TRIBUNE ASSOCIATE NIGHT&DAY EDITOR
June 15, 2006
Someday, in the Great Garage in the Sky, two bands in particular will look down from the heavens on the scorched earth they left behind. One of them would be Dinosaur Jr., ear-splitters extraordinaire. The other – Sonic Youth, the aural equivalent of a rock 'n' roll experiment gone bravely awry.

This year marks 25 years of Sonic Youth, founded in New York by guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. As a silver anniversary present, the avant-gardists (the band's current lineup also includes longtime bassist Kim Gordon and drummer Steve Shelley) give us one of their best albums ever – and who saw this coming? – the quite remarkable “Rather Ripped.”
Among the dozen tunes are the incendiary Thurston Moore rocker “Incinerate,” destined to become a Sonic Youth classic, and the Ranaldo-spun “Rats,” a gritty, haunting opus of piquant, scratchy guitar and terrifying lyrics: Shine a light into your soul / city streets so freezing cold / city shadows mark the route / when they let the rats out.
“Turquoise Boy,” another Moore composition, echoes 1960s psychedelia, as a supple, guitar-driven ballad morphs into archetypical Sonic Youth distortion, and back again. Its lyrics would make Donovan weep: Turquoise boy the sky is calling me / sweet isolation in the sun / You are a soldier in a sad charade / how can you lose what's never found?
Throughout “Rather Ripped,” Moore and Ranaldo remind us what skillful and nuanced guitarists they have been for a quarter-century. Everyone from Slash to Kurt Cobain can be “heard” in their playing, and there's no question about who came first.
Not to be outdone, as usual, Gordon fuels urgency and propulsion on bass, in particular on “What a Waste,” which she complements with a snarling vocal. You're so chaste / I can't wait / To taste your face, she sneers in a kind of twisted haiku. She could be mistaken for PJ Harvey on the opening track, “Reena,” and, come to think of it, wouldn't that pair, if they ever got together, shake up the Rock and Roll Hall of Famed ideal of “Women in Rock”? Shaking up the conventions of rock – and, yes, this music born of rebellion does have its conventions – has been Sonic Youth's mission for 25 years. So has ripping 'em up – and not just rather ripped, either.

06.15.2006, 09:23 PM	#51
Moshe Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5,862	http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/f...lz1w15sonic.ht 25 years into the relationship, Sonic Youth gives fans a lovely present, 'Rather Ripped' By David L. Coddon UNION-TRIBUNE ASSOCIATE NIGHT&DAY EDITOR June 15, 2006 Someday, in the Great Garage in the Sky, two bands in particular will look down from the heavens on the scorched earth they left behind. One of them would be Dinosaur Jr., ear-splitters extraordinaire. The other – Sonic Youth, the aural equivalent of a rock 'n' roll experiment gone bravely awry. This year marks 25 years of Sonic Youth, founded in New York by guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. As a silver anniversary present, the avant-gardists (the band's current lineup also includes longtime bassist Kim Gordon and drummer Steve Shelley) give us one of their best albums ever – and who saw this coming? – the quite remarkable “Rather Ripped.” Among the dozen tunes are the incendiary Thurston Moore rocker “Incinerate,” destined to become a Sonic Youth classic, and the Ranaldo-spun “Rats,” a gritty, haunting opus of piquant, scratchy guitar and terrifying lyrics: Shine a light into your soul / city streets so freezing cold / city shadows mark the route / when they let the rats out. “Turquoise Boy,” another Moore composition, echoes 1960s psychedelia, as a supple, guitar-driven ballad morphs into archetypical Sonic Youth distortion, and back again. Its lyrics would make Donovan weep: Turquoise boy the sky is calling me / sweet isolation in the sun / You are a soldier in a sad charade / how can you lose what's never found? Throughout “Rather Ripped,” Moore and Ranaldo remind us what skillful and nuanced guitarists they have been for a quarter-century. Everyone from Slash to Kurt Cobain can be “heard” in their playing, and there's no question about who came first. Not to be outdone, as usual, Gordon fuels urgency and propulsion on bass, in particular on “What a Waste,” which she complements with a snarling vocal. You're so chaste / I can't wait / To taste your face, she sneers in a kind of twisted haiku. She could be mistaken for PJ Harvey on the opening track, “Reena,” and, come to think of it, wouldn't that pair, if they ever got together, shake up the Rock and Roll Hall of Famed ideal of “Women in Rock”? Shaking up the conventions of rock – and, yes, this music born of rebellion does have its conventions – has been Sonic Youth's mission for 25 years. So has ripping 'em up – and not just rather ripped, either.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|