Well, the last two regular Sonic Youth records (Experimental Jet Set and Washing Machine) were not too inspired overall, but what can you expect after the motherlode of Goo and Dirty. It takes a lot of balls to gain that much attention and then make records that really sound like they don't give a flying fuck. It just doesn't make for great repeated listening.
It seemed to me that on Experimental Jet Set Kim was easily writing the best tunes, or at least singing them. Thurston seemed to be slacking off. On A Thousand Leaves, the roles have reversed: though I would never accuse Kim Gordon of slacking off, it is the Thurston tunes on the new album that sound the most thought-out, worked out, and enjoyable to listen to - repeatedly.
While most rock moms suddenly lose their edge, it seems, after having a baby (Chrissie Hynde comes to mind...even though the 3rd Pretenders album still had some spark, fueled by 'I've got a kid I'm 33' remarks...but thereafter everything suddenly got wimpy), Kim seems to be furious. She sounds truly unhinged. Thurston, on the other hand, seems to exude genuine compassion on every one of his vocals, a quality first glimpsed on 'Psychic Hearts' but now unmistakeable throughout Leaves.
The album starts out pretty ominously, with Kim calling "Oh Alice! Alice! It's just a kitten! It's just a kitten!" Somehow the way she says it is seriously unsettling. What it means beyond a presumed reference to Alice in Wonderland, I have no idea. But I appreciate her ability to make me wonder, to keep me guessing - and to raise the hair on the back of my neck without half trying. I also love her choice of just the right pre-teen phrasing on certain lines; "Make you go squish" from the fabulously titled "Female Mechanic Now On Duty" is easily as enjoyable as hearing her sing "P.U.!" on "Goo".
I don't know what goes on in the making of a Sonic Youth record. I don't read magazines, I don't read interviews, I don't log on to chat rooms, I haven't seen their website, etc. But judging by Experimental Jet Set and Leaves, Kim and Thurston seem to bounce off each other. If Thurston's feeling highly experimental and vague, Kim's gonna focus on some solid tunes. If Thurston's writing some solid tunes, Kim's gonna push the boundaries and go off. It's a great partnership, and between the two of them, the new record assures skeptics that SY isn't backing down or riding on the laurels of their own inventions (via Kim's songs); likewise, those who appreciate their pop/rock sensibility and astute use of song structure will not be let down, either (via Thurston's songs).
Thurston's tune "Sunday" has the classic Sonic Youth sound - dissonant chords and a great steady groove with a shaker. The thing that freaks me out/I love is that every time it comes on I hear Tom Petty's "She's Gonna Listen To Her Heart" in my mind..."blah blah blah, blah, blah-blah-blah/with your money and your cocaine" - it sounds just like that. Like on "Winner's Blues" (from Experimental) when he sings "sometimes you win sometimes you lose," what I hear in my mind is Carole King singing not only the same melody but the same lyrics. Freaky.
I really dig his songs on this album. Okay, they're all their songs, but I'm just gonna call the song by the singer. Thurston's "Sunday," "Wildflower Soul" (Petty's last album [that I recall] was titled Wildflowers...and was also unusually compassionate...hmm...) "Hits of Sunshine," and "Snare Girl" are all great. I especially love "Hits of Sunshine." The whispery vocal, the droning groove, the psychedelic lyrics, all mine the terrain of Ultimate Spinach in one of their finer moments, "Ballad of the Hip Death Goddess," as well as other reverb-drenched ten-minute opuses of the late 60's. SY seem to use a lot of wah wah on this album too, and even more often an AutoWah, the oft-disdained fake wah-wah pedal, rejected by most guitarists because it can not really be synced up with the music they're playing.* Perfect.
Now I like Lee Renaldo, don't get me wrong. I like this idea of the underdog guitarplayer who they allow to contribute one less-than-good-enough song to each record. He's like a work-in-progress. Father Eddie pointed out how apt one of Lee's lines was at describing himself, something to the effect of "the notebook ramblings of high school journal keepers." Anyway, the tune that line came from and some of his other bits have had a certain charm, but there was only one per record. This one has two. "Hoarfrost" is pretty much a dud. I am just not convinced by lines like "Wheels paddle wheels paddle movement as we go." "Karen Koltrane" is a better tune overall. I can't help but look at these tunes more as measures of Kim and Thurston's generosity and willingness to encourage Lee than as bonafide album tracks, and it's a noble gesture, so let's leave it at that.
The remaining Kim tracks on the album I'm just not into. Sorry. I have to confess, not only do I not like them, I don't understand them. I admire her willingness to take chances and confound the listener, but I don't think I will listen long and hard enough to ever get to the bottom of what she is trying to convey on this record. I'm sure it's no loss to Kim Gordon, and I'm sure she'll blow my mind later. In the meantime I don't have to worry that she's going soft from being a mommy or anything.
Somewhere in here I wanted to use the line "and their balloon-squeeze guitar" so I could feel really clever and incisive, but I never got around to it.
Is it a great Sonic Youth album? No. Is it better than the last two? Way. I like Sonic Youth, but must I buy it? Yes. "Hits of Sunshine" is worth it all by itself.
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*(As if most guitarist can play a regular wah in sync with the music they're playing anyway.)