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I've had similar experience in the past w/ getting into sonic youth records. I was a hardcore fan in the early 90's and before David Geffen re-released all the old Sonic youth pre-goo discs, i was always on the hunt for them. I had a list, and was in constant search. I was in a record store in tampa that had an SST closeout bin (i guess when they went out of buisness) and I found "Sister" - WOW what a find. But then I couldn't get into it...took a while. Then about a year later I took a road trip and the cassette I made of the CD just played over and over, I couldn't stop listening to it.
Then Experimental Jet set came out - same thing, I listened to it several times in store and dismissed it as a let down. Then after months went by, needing to get new sonic youth I decided to give another try. And whoala, like magic the album opens up to you.
I could go on and on...but I think the difference with those records and Rather Ripped is that, although I didn't "like" the record, something would compell me to listen again - who knows what. The structures proposed challenges: it was like unlocking a puzzle or something. The Rather Ripped CD seems like there is nothing much hidden to get at - it's all right there on the surface. Some songs certainly open up live, like "OR" and "jams run free" - but overall, I think the band is struggling to redefine themselves post-Jim O'Rourke. I feel it on the album, I felt it in live performance. I have faith in these guys, but for me Rather Ripped after repeated listens doesn't really hold a candle to Nurse, and will just be a footnote in their catalogue, similar to how NYC ghosts and Flowers is to me - a transitional record. I think this "trilogy" of albums, as many have called them the last 3, has brought to an end a way of songwriting that the band
has explored to the fullest they can. I think the next couple of years after this big summer tour will see the guys (and gal) experimenting again and finding their new voice. It's not easy, especially when people expect so much from new sonic youth records. Maybe a chain of independent SYR releases will do them good. Whatever happens, I'll be there to catch the next chapter of Sonic Youth.
Unless of course, Rather Ripped is a kind way of saying good-bye to the sonic youth we've known and loved so long...really hard to say. I don't think they will ever stop performing in the NYC and western MASS areas, but it is possible, and i've felt it coming, that this may be the last big sha-bang across the country.
who knows...
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