Reviews:

Sonic Youth: Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Mark Ibold, Steve Shelley, Thurston Moore.
Audio Mixer: John Agnello.
Audio Remasterer: Greg Calbi.
Recording information: Bisquiteen, MA (11/2008-01/2009); Echo Canyon West, NJ (11/2008-01/2009).
Undoubtedly the most influential American indie group of the late 20th century and beyond, Sonic Youth has seldom wavered in their embrace of underground music and culture even as their move in the 1990s to Geffen brought with it a decidedly more mainstream listenership. While the carefully orchestrated squall and skewed melodicism of late major-label efforts SONIC NURSE (2004) and RATHER RIPPED (2006) marked a dramatic departure from the fiery noise anthems of old, THE ETERNAL, Sonic Youth's 2009 album for Matador, is a welcome return to a familiar, back-to-basics approach.
On THE ETERNAL, SY sound at once revitalized and limbered by the move back to an indie, with Thurston, Kim, and company revisiting familiar tropes--gales of blistering guitar noise, acerbic power pop riffs, and ruminative spoke-sung recitations--with the sharpened edge of a band wised at their twilight years. While these elder statesmen won't be kicking up teenage riots anymore, the sassy, punkish opener, "Sacred Trickster," may be as energetic as any of their anthems circa GOO or DIRTY, with Kim Gordon's feral come-ons losing none of their evocative power. Meanwhile, the explosive riff-fest, "Poison Arrow," pairs grinding detuned guitars with sheets of droning feedback in classic SY style.

After years on Geffen Records, Sonic Youth return to an indie label with their sixteenth studio album. "The Eternal" is a supercharged rocker, recalling aspects of the Evol-Sister-Daydream Nation holy trinity, but with cleaner, louder production and more straightforward momentum. With Pavement's Mark Ibold joining on bass, and producer John Agnello back at the controls, "The Eternal" takes the melodic songwriting of 2006's "Rather Ripped" and slams down the accelerator pedal.