The Eternal is Sonic Youth’s first effort for legendary indie imprint Matador Records and the result is the band’s hardest-rocking album since Sister. The first Youth record featuring ex-Pavement bassist (and Matador alum) Mark Ibold, The Eternal kick-starts with Kim Gordon’s characteristic shrieking on the opening track, “Sacred Trickster.” Thurston Moore is in typical solid form on “Thunderclap for Bobby Pyn” and gives us his very best Lou Reed on “Poison Arrow,” but it’s Lee Ranaldo who delivers the album’s standout cut, “What We Know” (“Heaven’s not about your reputation/yeah, that I know/forever means the night turns gold”). Other solid songs include the hard-edged “Anti-Orgasm” and “Calming the Snake,” as well as the more melodic “Malibu Gas Station.” John Agnello’s production is top quality, showcasing the band’s unorthodox arrangements and structures, and capturing both the loudest and most quiet moments in their fullest. With The Eternal, Sonic Youth confirm yet again (as they did with Rather Ripped, Sonic Nurse, and Murray Street) that they’re still very much on top of their game 25 years after they first started out, even if they’re no longer making music quite as mind-blowing as Daydream Nation.
--Matt Miner
http://www.sonicyouth.com/
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