#187
Sonic Youth - The Eternal (Matador, 2009)
Sonic Youth has been releasing records for over 28 years, which is a huge accomplishment in and of itself even if we ignore just how fantastic most of them are. I guarantee if you stack up their discography against, say, The Rolling Stones, these NY noisemakers would wallop the old boys in hit:miss ratio. So I find it incredibly easy to forgive the band for sort of easing into a comfortable pattern over the last decade, especially towards the end. The last 2 or 3 records haven't been groundbreaking or envelope-pushing, but they've been chock full of Sonic Youth doing exactly what Sonic Youth does best. Strangling the necks of their guitars as they wrap them around pop melodies played off sheets of feedback and squalls of noise. No one does this type of thing better, and even a v2009 Sonic Youth album is better than many of the alternatives the blogs might be trying to push. As hinted at before, this particular record isn't a game-changer like a Sister or a Daydream Nation, but it is a thrilling listen from start to finish. "Sacred Trickster" and "Thunderclap for Bobby Pyn" bring back short bursts of punk energy that we really haven't seen since the Dirty days, but epics "Antenna" and "Massage the History" will please those who love the long-form jams. The latter is a particular treat, closing out the album on a gentle note with Kim's breathy vocals and some gently picked acoustic guitars(!!!) swirled into the mix. Yet another great Sonic Youth album. I really hope they pump these out forever.
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