REVIEW: Sonic Youth, NYC Ghosts and Flowers (Geffen)
- Andrew Duncan
For almost 20 years, Sonic Youth has been pushing the envelope with their ethereal sounds, ranging from shards of screeching guitar to hypnotic-induced chimes and minimalist experimentation.
Since their introduction into the art-rock/no-wave clique of New York City, these Hoboken natives have transformed a musical genre by breaking into the mainstream and introducing noise rock to a shy American audience, itching for a new kind of kick. Sonic Youth gave the deadly blow when they created one of the most perceptive alternative albums in history, Daydream Nation. They still continue to set new standards for rock artists to take note, recently creating an album of signature Sonic Youth adaptations from works of 20th Century modern classical composers.
Now that we have made it past the impending doom of the 20th Century and look forward to new adventures and new standards, Sonic Youth's new release NYC Ghosts and Flowers is surprisingly far from it. In fact, NYC Ghosts is their most accessible and shortest-running album to date, clocking in at just over 42 minutes. This is explained by the gear theft that plagued the band last July, leaving them with equipment that had not been used since the Daydream Nation sessions. The results have concluded with mixed emotions.
Beginning with "Free City Rhymes," Sonic Youth gives you a feel for New York City like no other artist has before. The creepy, paranoiac guitar chimes and repetitiveness transforms into a lush blossoming of guitar foliage, providing the listener with a sense of comfort and discovery.
But then "Renegade Princess" kicks in.
The band reverts to their Bad Moon Rising days as the song begins psychotically passive as guitar notes glisten like raindrops. Bassist Kim Gordon and Moore snootingly spit out clumps of poetry. It all comes together under Steve Shelley's big arena-rock drum patterns and Lee Renaldo and Moore's driving guitar chords that would get anyone's blood boiling.
Soon after the climax, there are some moderate tunes, including the Gordon song "Side2Side" and the repetitive Moore song "StreamXSonic Subway." Showing evidence of Allen Ginsberg's influence on the band, Moore dabbles in beat poetry about beat poets and the Greenwich Village scene from the '60s in the richly daunting "Small Flowers Crack Concrete." As omnidirectional guitar chimes and shimmering scraps, Moore fills the gaps with his prose about cop violence and free love, a concept that has tormented the band since their Confusion Is Sex days.
As the album winds down, Renaldo steps up to the microphone on for the album's title track that is soft-spoken but simply creative. Evidence of the Chicago sound can be pinpointed to Sonic Youth's new member, Jim O'Rourke and his contribution.
NYC Ghosts is a time of change and renewal for the band, which could not be a better time for the band to discover new musical paths and expressive concepts.
