Sonic Youth
NYC Ghosts & Flowers
(Geffen)

     Commonly known for their convention-defying brand of left-field rock and musical misanthropy, Sonic Youth return with the critically heralded NYC Ghosts & Flowers.  With this offering, the group seems to have completely released its already gauzy grip on the pop format in favor of more freeform, aimless ramblings, loose and sloppy, even by their own standards.
     All traces of the band that once cut such driving, grungy tracks as “100%” have been erased.  The grinding power chords and bursts of feedback have found themselves replaced with twisting, jangly arpeggios from some strange, alternately tuned dimension.  In a nutshell, this is one eerie sounding record.
     The disc opens prosperously enough with the melodic and provocative “Free City Rhymes,” a tune that rates with “Sunday” as one of Thurston Moore’s introspective best.  However, as the album runs its course, the poetry begins to wear thin, and the listener begins to pray for some semblance of a catchy chorus or hook.
     To sum things up, NYC is a record that is likely to be most enjoyable only to hardcore Sonic Youth aficionados.

By Casey Lombardo
Long Beach Union

Originally printed 9.5.00

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