Labels: Matador
Review by: MH
So this is Sonic Youth stalwart Lee Ranaldo’s latest album following a number of collaborations, spoken text records, solo releases and about 85 Sonic Youth albums. He is 56 now and the lack of distorted guitars and feedback across most of this album show an unsurprising mellowing and restraint. That is no bad thing though as there are some good songs on here. Strictly speaking, this is not a solo record as there is input from a number of others including Jim O’Rourke and Steve Shelley. It opens with a slow riff that is highly reminiscent of “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones. His skill in writing melodies is at the fore here “” “Off The Wall” must be one of the poppiest songs he has written. Most of the songs here are quite melodic and mid-paced although there are a couple of sadder, acoustic songs along the way too. I detect a slight 70s influence in some of the melodies and the guitar playing particularly on “Fire Island (phases)”. “Shouts” features female spoken words towards the end and makes me think of “Goo”-era Sonic Youth but that’s really the only time I’m reminded of them. One criticism I would give is that there are some fairly clunky lyrics that jumped out at me a few times – just a few odd lines. I won’t list them as they will probably stand out when you listen. This is a very accessible rock record and worth a listen.