Review Summary: The Youth age gracefully will an album full of crystalline guitar lines and laid-back improvisations.
Okay, this is my first real album review in about two years, and yeah, I know it needs work with the grammar and all that jazz. But considering that i wrote this in about forty-five minutes, I'm pretty pleased with it. Read on and (hopefully) enjoy.
A Thousand Leaves - Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth has always been cool. Ever since they formed, they've been the pinnacle of cool in the world of indie rock. Unfortunately, they never sounded cool. Let's face it, sheets of noise and a chick yelling about a guy with dark stains on his pants isn't exactly what comes to mind when cool is brought up.
However, with 1998's A Thousand Leaves, Sonic Youth's sound caught up with their image. Ignoring the album's opener/misstep, "Contre Le Sexisme", SY served up some of their most mellow music of their career. From single "Sunday" to the absolutely haunting "Karen Koltrane", A Thousand Leaves is the sound of SY showing their age - and aging with grace. While it was never in doubt that Lee Renaldo would have an easy transition into maturity, it was always rather unsettling to think of Thurston and Kim attempting to rock out well into their forties. Fortunately, this album puts those fears to rest by revealing Sonic Youth as fully grown adults. No longer is Thurston the raging punk of his youth. His anger has been replaced with a gentler, more approachable aging-guru vibe that is as pleasant as it is inviting. Kim, too, shows her age. While her Iggy Pop-esque grunts and screeches may have served the band well in its pig*** days, she wisely adopts a more melodic singing style that fits in well with the band's new guitar sounds.
Speaking of guitars, A Thousand Leaves is one of SY's most underrated albums in terms of guitarwork. While longtime fans may cry foul at the lack of earsplitting feedback on the majority of these tracks, those with an ear for progression will hear how far SY has come in the three years since Washing Machine. The guitarwork on this album is absolutely astonishing in terms of textures employed and interplay explored. SY's three-guitar attack no longer spews out chunks of noise but now explores territory hit on only by Tom Verlaine and Television's adventuresome guitar interplay. The Thurston, Lee, and Kim work off one another in ways that are sure to delight and interest the listener. In addition, the band proves that they are able to jam with the best of them, as they do on the album highlight "Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)". However, this progression does not mean that this album is quiet. There is still plenty of skronk on tracks such as "The Ineffable Me" and even some of the more laid-back tracks have the occasional noise freakout. The varied guitarwork on this album just shows how SY has matured not only as musicians but also as a band.
While critics will always focus upon albums such as Sister and Daydream Nation as the only SY records worth checking out, don't let them rob you of listening to this gem of an album for yourself.
