Almost done listening to the new Sonic Youth album The Eternal. It’s good. Pretty much what you’d expect from Sonic Youth – a band I feel has rec’d far more praise than perhaps it’s ever deserved. People dismiss other artists far more popular or mainstream for recreating the same sound album after album, but be real, SY haven’t really changed much in their tenure and get to somehow skate by. Why?
I respect the band immensely, for their continued success, their abilities as musicians and as elders of the alternative era. But I don’t understand, nor have I ever, why music critics and music snobs give this New York band a pass (by and large). Ultimately, they don’t speak to me emotionally and I am not the sort to intellectualize music. Especially rock music, a specific brand that calls for an emotional response.
My favorite album of theirs is Dirty, which probably says more about why I don’t love them as much as you do. I suppose it’s like saying your favorite Stones album is Their Satanic Majesty’s Request (which is quite good – but yeah, not their best). You’re outed as not being a fan if that’s what you see as SY’s gold standard.
Fair enough. But what Dirty does, for me, is crystallize everything the band’s about before and since, yet packing an intensity and an exuberance lacking on either side.
The Eternal, the band’s first for Matador Records, while a fine listen and one I will no doubt explore more (in perhaps a more nuanced review to come), is just more of the same SY served time and time again. And I’m sure the band will be rewarded for it.
Official Sonic Youth Website
Official Matador Records Website
Editor’s Comment: What in the hell is going on with this post? The Ghost can move between the real and spectral worlds, but can’t seem to figure out how to fix his blog problem.
