Sonic Youth: Hey, Hey, No Way?

The EternalFor all the talk about Sonic Youth's incorporation of black metal's lyrical bent, I can honestly say that it doesn't matter. I don't ever listen to the band's music for its lyrical content - ever. That's an unfortunate stand to take, but it's an honest one. For as much as there's a piece of every Sonic Youth disc that I enjoy immensely, there are enough sections off of each one of their discs that I really have no problem skipping through. That doesn't mean that the lyrics are void of artistic integrity, but it seems roughly equivalent to enjoying the vocals from a Phish song. Of course, those hippies might be considered as musically important to the development of culture, but I'm gonna say that the inventiveness in any Sonic Youth outing pretty easily surpasses the musical prowess of the Vermont bred hippies. I bet they both like the Talking Heads and the Velvet Underground, though, so it's all a crap shoot.

After having completed their contractual obligations to the David Geffen Company, Sonic Youth sought to return to an independent label - but one with teeth. Being one of the taste making groups on SST in the early '80s and creating a stunningly deep catalog, SY and Thurston Moore most likely had their choice of labels - including Moore's own Ecstatic Peace imprint. But Matador Records, who has in part, been responsible for the explosion of Jay Reatard's career, was probably too irresistible an organization to deny.

Even with that, however, the group most likely looked for an outlet that wouldn't present too much resistance in regards to what the band wanted to do musically. The inclusion of the lyrics from "No Way" might beg to be negatively critiqued, but when tossed on top of an all too competent rock beat it doesn't sound bad.

The most amusing thing about The Eternal - due out in June - is that it might offer up the densest collection of Sonic Youth tunes that the general populace could potentially enjoy. There are still ample squalls of noise and while there aren't as many motoric touches to the rhythmic section, it's still a pretty heavy offering. "What We Know" isn't gonna hit the airwaves - and with its dual guitar skronk, it may not even sate all too many college/indie radio station folk, but who knows.

Amongst the more pop oriented material, the final trio of songs finds Sonic Youth in laid back territory. And as mentioned before, a lot of this could be generally consumable. Even with the cumbersome nine minute, whispered finale, it's all melodic guitar figures, these songs could have potentially made Sonic Youth stars during the middle part of the '90s.

More likely than not, record executives have been saying this in hushed tones over the last eighteen years, but if Sonic Youth made a pop record, which they almost did with Washing Machine, there'd really be no way for it to not sell millions of copies. Surely, SY does alright for themselves, so that's not really a valid point any longer. But this disc most assuredly will be better received than Sonic Nurse.