Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse

Fri 23rd Jul, 2004 in Music Reviews

Legendary New York art-rock band release their 19th album as fans worldwide hold their breath. Will it be great? The answer is of course it will, this is Sonic Youth!

 

I read somewhere else that it’s virtually impossible to comment on this new Sonic Youth album without contextualising it as the 19th album in their illustrious career as indie rock royalty and I totally agree.

 

Given that Sonic Youth has for so long been the band to judge all others against, each new release carries a weight beyond its actual contents. I mean everything about the band, for better and worse, is wrapped up in that urban Sonic artful coolness. And is it just me, or has it become painfully cool to be into Sonic Youth again?

 

Don’t get me wrong – I worship the band. And Murray Street (their album prior) for me was a terrific record that got me all excited about them again, so I suppose I’ve answered my own question there. The band is still enjoying a return to form based on this album and Murray Street, yet I find myself needing a little more time with Sonic Nurse to truly make up my mind.

 

To carry on with the return to form theme, I’m reminded oddly enough of that craggiest of all survivors, Bob Dylan, who recently (well between 1997 and 2001) turned in two of his best albums in many years with Time Out Of Mind and Love And Theft. Maybe the style of music is somewhat mismatched, but the cult fame and career trajectory has its similarities.

 

Anyhow, back to Sonic Nurse. The good news is that the band chemistry with new member Jim O’Rourke and the general interplay and musicianship is top notch. This is a band that knows how to fucking play and Sonic Youth enjoys its time here blasting out big riffs, supporting some classic melodies and exploring eerie corners like only they know how. There’s room to breathe and a comfortable maturity on Sonic Nurse, which admirably doesn’t suffocate the band’s connection with freshness and experimentalism.

 

This is where I think I still need more time to absorb these songs. They’re not all immediately satisfying, and I get the sense that some of them weren’t spectacular songs to begin with, unlike say, those on Murray Street, where I found the whole production a total joy.

 

Some reviewers have likened the album to Washing Machine and even some of the mid-late 80’s golden period albums like Daydream Nation, but I’m still much more comfortable with the link to Murray Street. Partly because Jim O’Rourke was in the fold for both these albums, but mainly because the band interplay is very similar.

 

Standout tracks are from Kim Gordon, which I don’t always find to be the case(!) – including I Love You Golden Blue and Dude Ranch Nurse. Lee Ranaldo’s Paper Cup Exit is just fantastic, far and away the album high point, while Thurston Moore seems to struggling for material here, with the possible exception of Peace Attack, and to some extent New Hampshire. Perhaps Moore’s Murray Street songs were just more vital.

 

So in summary – forget my reservations – this is Sonic Youth sounding comfortable as a band and Sonic Nurse is a strong album, one that might have benefited from a different tracking order, but solid nonetheless. Sink into the record, and if you don’t mind I’m gonna lie back and take my sweet time getting to know these songs.