Murray Street
The yin-yang of Sonic Youth\'s career has always been a pull toward abstract avant-garde atonalities and a push toward conventional rock \'n\' roll songwriting. Essentially, the band has forced rock \'n\' roll to accept it as a logical expansion of the genre\'s definition; in return, it\'s earned fans who argue over which albums are the essential ones. *A Thousand Leaves* and *NYC Ghosts & Flowers* worked near the style of the avant-garde releases on Sonic Youth\'s own label imprint. *Murray Street*, with producer Jim O\'Rourke officially joining the band as a fifth wheel, is gentler; it\'s the most accessible the band has been since *Washing Machine* or, perhaps, *Dirty*. \"Rain on Tin\" is a gorgeous, dry mix of guitars weaving without a need to break down into chaos. Lee Ranaldo\'s \"Karen Revisited\" has a nearly nostalgic tone before turning into a space jam. \"The Empty Page\" sounds like an indie-rock pop song from the early \'90s. \"Plastic Sun\" and \"Sympathy for the Strawberry\" lead with Kim Gordon on vocals, with the nine-minute \"Strawberry\" best representing SY\'s signature style and sound.
Meet Jeremy. Jeremy likes Sonic Youth. His favorite album by the Youth is Goodbye 20th Century, their self-released cover album ...
Virtually every album Sonic Youth has released since the underrated Goo has been hailed as a return to form.
<p>In this week's pop: INC manage to make anti-globalisation sound fun, Sonic Youth remember how to write a tune and Lee Hazlewood gets covered in style. Plus the rest of the week's releases.</p>