Sonic Youth - The Eternal

Sonic Youth
The Eternal
Matador
Double LP/CD

Since this site is going to be devoted to reviews primarily, there is no better way to start than with Sonic Youth. SY is the one music artist that I respect more than any other. That coupled with the fact that this is their first album on an indie label since Daydream Nation (or as I like to call it: The Alternative Bible) and this should have been an instant classic. While it is certainly not that, The Eternal does measure up to their recent output. The album also serves as kind of a cross-section of the band's history with songs that song like they could have come from several different eras of their career. There are also more prevalent traces of influence on SY than there seemed to have been in a while with musical reference to Television (the interlude on “Antenna,”) and literal to the Germs (Bobby Pyn was the original stage name of Germs singer Darby Crash). There are some bonafide gems on this record. “Sacred Trickster,”and “No Way,” are potential anthems. While not the ultimate triumphant return to indie that The Eternal was billed, the fact is that Sonic Youth has never wavered in their approach to making records. And there is no need for a triumphant return when you've never really gone anywhere.

Track Grades

1. Sacred Trickster – 9.7
2. Anti-Orgasm – 7.8
3. Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso) – 8.4
4. Antenna – 8.9
5. What We Know – 7.8
6. Calming The Snake – 7.6
7. Poison Arrow – 9.1
8. Malibu Gas Station – 8.2
9. Thunderclap (For Bobby Pyn) – 9.3
10. No Way – 9.2
11. Walkin Blue – 7.5
12. Massage The History – 8.7

Overall Grade=8.52