Sonic Youth - 'NYC Ghosts & Flowers' (Geffen)
4/5
By: Toby L
Baffling critics left, right and centre, this eight track album (sounds thin on the ground, but it's over forty minutes long) was always susceptible to cynical review.
Ever since their first UK appearance of the year at All Tomorrows Partie's, a sans-greatest hits 'borefest' (as one critic described it as), Sonic Youth have been subjected to a blowing in this country. However, either reacting to this or just because they wanted a bit of old stuff back in the live set, the Youth's recent UK shows at the Shepherd's Bush Empire were more of a light-hearted affair, even containing their anthemic classic 'Teen Age Riot'. This resulted in them becoming officially cool again in the eyes of the press and public alike. However, their first album of the 21st Century is just too much to overlook, despite a surge in popularity.
It's bound to divide fans. Surely. The music on this record is not of a band in a personal progression of their sound, simply because it seems so out of context from their past efforts. Bearing this in mind, the only real way to discuss the music displayed here is to just imagine that a different band had recorded it.
Fe/Male vocals intertwine between plucking guitars, crashing cymbals and screeching feedback plus a bit of swearing. That could be a summary for every track on the album. However, things stand out; the sound of Wire's 'Lowdown' on 'Small Flowers Crack Concrete' and the fact that its closing sound effect rings around the ear like Black Beauty galloping around a field, plus many repetitions of 'I protest' too. Rickety spaceship noises appear in other compositions, with the now notorious dodgy trumpet-parping of Kim Gordon on 'Lightnin' popping up. Describing the rest of the album like this would be easy to do and unfair to the band. The fact of the matter is that guitar acts should go out on a limb and try new ideas out. A lot of the content on this album, however, just seems unnecessary; the music just clanks along aimlessly and one wonders if they're taking the piss.
But, for all of the criticisms, there are moments where Sonic Youth shine through, despite what you may think of the album. 'NYC Ghosts & Flowers' is a largely improvisational record, therefore it feels live, and thus alive. You can feel the conditions of the studios in the haunting music and relate to the characters described in the songs. The atmosphere freezes your home and ploughs through your mind. Images are conjured up of things as you hear the sound. It's as if it's not even music, but whispers and a few instruments orchestrating four US citizens' thoughts on a warped life. It doesn't make for easy listening, but the most bold and daring albums don't, arguably.
An open mind is needed for their new sound (the feelgood angst of their earlier work ain't coming back), but why not if you may end up discovering the ideal music for your scary nature? It may be freaky, but once you've adjusted your mindset to that of theirs, you're in for a thrilling and chilling outing.
Artists in this article: Sonic Youth
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