Trees Outside The Academy

Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore follows his band's return to tunefulness, Rather Ripped, with his first formal LP since 1995's Psychic Hearts. Here he takes up an interesting challenge: What can a guy like Moore do with the bare and noiseless architecture of an acoustic guitar and a verse-chorus-verse set-up?

Trees Outside The Academy is Thurston Moore's first album since 1995's Psychic Hearts to feature wall-to-wall pop songs. Other than the distinct voice behind the mic, that's where the similarity ends. Any track from Psychic Hearts could have popped up on a mid-period album by Moore's full-time gig, Sonic Youth. This…