Young At Heart

The Eternal
Sonic Youth
Matador, 2009
3.5 stars

It might just be the fact that the band’s members are all in or nearing their fifties, but for some reason a ‘00s Sonic Youth record just doesn’t have the same feel as an ‘80s or ‘90s one. That said, was this record released by an unknown group, age withheld, it’d no doubt be receiving positive feedback anyway. The sound is unmistakeably Sonic Youth: more rocking than recent efforts, but with all the inventive, messed-up guitar effects and- you know what, I’m not going to try and explain what Sonic Youth sound like. If you know the band, you know what I’m talking about, and if you don’t, well, you’re not the target audience anyway so no biggie. Though lo-fi and awkward, The Eternal’s cleanliness is a good example of ‘00s production. The band apparently used Twitter to let fans in on the recording progress too – but, having a fifteen-year-old daughter, Kim and Thurston are probably all over modern-day social networking. All in all, The Eternal is probably a better record than most of the group’s two-dozen-odd other albums – the last few at the very least - but something is undeniably different. Whether it’s something in us as listeners, or them as ageing punk/no-wave pioneers, is hard to say.

Artwork: B+
They've nailed the whoole "whatever" '90s grunge/lo-fi look with this. No whole-album 'concept' here, thanks. No siree. Just a painting they like on the cover (by the late American folk guitarist John Fahey), and a bunch of paintings and photos they like on the inside and back. Suitably absent, and beautifully under-polished.

Published in mX, Thursday June 11, 2009.