Shortly after their appearance on Gilmore Girls, Sonic Youth, the dinosaurs of indie rock, released their 21st full-length album, which is supposedly their last contractually required album on Geffen Records. The youth are back to their original line-up, with Jim O’Rourke missing on bass and keyboards, having moved on to other projects and rumored to be continuing studies into Japanese film and music. The album is brilliant (IMHO) and features over 50 minutes of the type of melodic rock and roll that Sonic Youth became so well-known for during the late-80’s / early-90’s.

• Stylus Magazine (91/100). “It’s not just their most energetic, immediate, and pop record in a dog’s age, it’s also—and I love this—their most honest. The Yoof seem to have finally realized their fixed spot in the landscape of modern rock and have all but jettisoned, except where absolutely necessary, the high art pretensions that have weighed down much of their recent output—save Murray Street, the exception that proves the rule—in favor of streamlined, bell-clear FM-radio rock: Badfinger, Thin Lizzy, Big Star.”
• Entertainment Weekly (83/100). “From Kurt Cobain to Steve Albini, Sonic Youth have played with loads of way-hip musicians. But one they’ve missed is Roger McGuinn, ex-leader of folk-rock progenitors the Byrds. They really ought to, especially since the now-middle-aged Youth’s latest album sounds an awful lot like that band in places.”
• Dusted Magazine (70/100). “Every few years, this Sonic Youth puts out a new album. These albums generally appear near summer’s commencement. Some have harbored jarring, experimental flourishes. This one, not so much. Although not the less-than-inspired retread that was Sonic Nurse, it’s a fitting overview of everything that’s always worked for Sonic Youth in the past (a description that also fits the long track “Pink Steam” by its lone). It’s, in a word, firm. The hooks are tight. The melodies are just as “compelling” to the heart as all that SYR jibber-jazz is to the heads of those who appreciate it.”

[Rather Ripped @ Metacritic | Buy it @ Insound | Sonic Youth | Sonic Youth @ Wikipedia]