When dealing with a veteran of the arts, a couple of tricky factors come into play during a critical assessment of their latest work: Expectation and Age. These factors, along with one of their sub-factors, Leniency, when unconsidered, can lead to an unfair and inaccurate appraisal of the work, which is the antithesis of the responsibility of the critic.
When an artist creates a work of art, and it is received by an audience, that work evokes a set of feelings in the audience. That set of feelings is then recalled by the audience whenever they are exposed to it – whether directly or via memory. With each subsequent work by the same artist a new set of feelings are generated in the audience while the set of feelings from the previous work(s) is maintained by their exposure to it – again, either directly or via memory. What occurs with the exposure to the latest work is comparison to the previous work. Whether the interpretation to the previous work was favorable or not, the audience evokes the set of feelings associated with it and a sense of expectation is attached to their reception of the latest work.
Expectation is a function of the mind that is a part of one of the most basic and integral instruments for human understanding – memory. When a young child, unaware of fire, touches a flame and is burned, a memory of that experience is created. When the child sees fire again, the memory will be evoked and they will expect their hand to be burned if they touch the flame. This is just one example of its function. In our everyday lives, memory and expectation are constantly being utilized and we need them to be. However, do we need expectation when assessing the latest work by a veteran of the arts?
If we consider each work of art by an artist to be a standalone piece – unless of course the artist states otherwise – should the audience not ignore expectation so that it can receive the work for itself? Is it fair to expect the set of feelings associated with previous works to be evoked once again – especially when the relation to the previous and latest work is really no different than the relation between works by completely different artists?
But is it even possible to dispense with something as integral to human reason as expectation?
Let’s bring our veterans of the arts, Sonic Youth, in and test this upon myself. Can I truly ignore the feelings generated in me by a song like “Pacific Coast Highway”, from the band’s 1987 album Sister? Can I temporarily forget seeing the band perform the entirety of their 1988 album Daydream Nation live in 2007? No, I cannot. These are feeling and memories that are very important to me. So if I cannot ignore these things when considering their latest work, how can I not have a sense of expectation as to what the merit of the work can or should be?
Let’s move on to the second factor: Age.
Age is a factor that is extremely important when dealing with a veteran of the musical arts, specifically in the medium of rock and roll music, which our subjects Sonic Youth trade in.
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that first appeared in the late 1940’s/early 1950’s. Since its inception, it has been an aesthetic medium synonymous with youth, due to factors like popularity, idolatry and sex, which play roles in both rock and roll and youth culture. Most of the important works created in this medium have been done so by bands or individuals in their twenties.
Though rock and roll is still significant to those of the genre’s original generation, it expands and morphs with each subsequent generation. When these subsequent generations look back at the state of the genre before theirs, it’s often with negative associations because that previous generation is that of their parents. These negative associations stem from the younger generations need for independence – that independence primarily consisting of a separation from their parents.
As I have stated, we are discussing a veteran of the arts. So despite the fact that the majority of the major works in rock and roll music have been created by twenty year olds, and the suspicious feelings held by subsequent generations, some rock and roll artists have been able to persevere. Artists like Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Lou Reed and Neil Young, at the ages of the current generation’s parents and grandparents, have continued to create great albums that maintain relevance with the youth.
Or have they?
When the latest album of a rock and roll veteran receives critical praise, how often is it due to the actual significance of the album and how often is it due to Leniency?
Leniency afforded an artist has to do with both age and expectation.
The way expectation effects leniency is similar to the way expectation can effect a critical assessment of a later work by a veteran of the arts: previous works create a set of feelings which the audience compares to the new set of feelings created by the latest work. Since we are discussing critical praise, the previous works obviously generated favorable feelings in the audience which they would like to be duplicated – even if one can never have the same set of feelings due to variables like ones environment, emotional state and knowledge. So even if the latest work cannot duplicate the feelings made by previous, praised works by the artist, the audience can look upon it with more lenience because of its proximity to those feelings, which is just another way of determining whether it met ones expectations or not.
The way age effects leniency goes back to the idea of rock and roll and its ties to youth. When the Rolling Stones, a band that began in the early 1960’s – when rock and roll was really becoming a major art form – and is widely considered to be one of the greatest embodiments of the genre, released “Start Me Up”, a single from their 1981 album Tattoo You, the members of the band were all around the age of forty years old – a parent’s age. Yet, with “Start Me Up”, they created one of the most iconic rock and roll songs ever. One that was a hit (popularity) by a band that would wind up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (idolatry) about sex (sex) – something supposedly done by rock and roll artists half their age.
“Start Me Up” is generally thought of as a great work of rock and roll and leniency is not really a factor. But when we consider A Bigger Bang, the 2005 album by the Rolling Stones, when all of the band members were in their sixties, it seems possible that leniency was a factor.
With the vigor required to play rock and roll music, a very energetic genre, it truly is amazing that someone in their sixties, an age when most are feeling the effects of physical decline, can still create it. So when Rolling Stone magazine gave A Bigger Bang a four and a half out of five stars review and claimed that it was the second greatest album of the year, how much of their praise was based on the significance of the album in itself and how much was based upon expectation being defied by youthful rock and roll music being created by elderly men?
The members of Sonic Youth are all around the age of fifty years old and still playing rock and roll music, more specifically, subgenres of rock and roll, like punk rock and college rock, which can be even more tied to youth. Their previous three albums, Murray Street, Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped, from the years 2002, 2004, and 2006, respectively, have all been critically praised. Were these works afforded leniency, like A Bigger Bang? If you compare how they were praised – “It’s the best effort The Rolling Stones have produced in quite a while.”, “Rather Ripped is what you’d expect from a Sonic Youth that’s getting back to the cool rock ‘n’ roll sound they trademarked years ago, completed by a tagline of frenzied feedback and chiming guitars.” – it seems possible.
So can we dispense with the factor of age in an aesthetic medium so specific to youth?
Let me test myself once again. Can I ignore the gray hairs and wrinkles of the members of Sonic Youth when I see them perform live? Not really. Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo, the driving creative forces behind the band, are all around my parents’ age. When I watch them perform rock and roll music it’s quite difficult to forget that.
But maybe the question is should we dispense with the factor of age?
Should I ignore the wisdom and increased skill level that comes from years of creating music? No, because wouldn’t I then be dismissing their growth as artists? And speaking of artistic growth, is that not an important aspect for the artist? Doesn’t growth mean greater knowledge and skill and therefore works that contain more beauty and truth?
If we cannot dispense with the factors of expectation and age with a critical assessment of a veteran of the arts, how can we remain responsible critics? We cannot go to the opposite end of the spectrum and embrace these factors completely. That would have even worse results. What is the answer?
When reviewing the latest work by Sonic Youth, The Eternal, which will be released on June 9, 2009, the conclusion I reached was that one must acknowledge these factors and try to keep them at a safe distance when judging the work itself. However, one eventually has to bring these factors back in to determine growth. You, the audience, will have to assess whether or not I succeeded in this attempt.
My first exposure to The Eternal came about through a preview mash-up track created by the band. The preview track contained elements from all twelve tracks from the upcoming album. These elements were mixed so well together that it was a great piece in and of itself. Expectation was immediately generated, but a different sort. This wasn’t the sort of blind expectation discussed earlier – that was around when I heard the news that they were working on a new album. This was different because I had heard fragments of the actual work; fragments that I enjoyed and expected to enjoy further when heard within the context of their respective songs.
A month after the preview mash-up was released I signed up for Matador Records’ – the new home of Sonic Youth – Buy Early Get Now program – which I had done for the reissue of Pavement’s Brighten The Corners and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks’ Real Emotional Trash.
The Buy Early Get Now program is an initiative for fans to pre-order an upcoming album. For doing so, the fans are rewarded with things like mp3s of B-sides and rarities, posters, bonus LPs and a 128k stream of the album through their website.
The stream of The Eternal became available on April 28 and I have been listening to the entire album for the past few weeks. What follows is a track-by-track review of the album:
1. Sacred Trickster
The lead track of an album should be its mission statement – an introduction to the purpose of the work. “Sacred Trickster”, the lead track on The Eternal, sets the tone for what’s to expect with its brisk pace, hard-charging rhythm and ferocious riffs, all in 2:11. Kim’s vocals on the song are equally vigorous and also touch on the album title with the line “I wish I could be music on a tree”. What would that mean to be music on a tree? Does she want to be The Eternal, dangling like a leaf from a limb, waiting to fall to the earth and be harvested? Or does she mean something more mythical? Does Kim want to be Music, the goddess of Song, perched upon the Tree of Life, rewarding those who find the tree with Melody? Whatever the case may be, the line evokes eternity – even though the rest of the lyrics have an autobiographical quality about Kim’s time with the band. But that may be an eternity to her – in a good way, I hope – and thus still fitting.
2. Anti-Orgasm
This title seems misleading. Musically, there seems to be intercourse – the grinding guitar sounds and moaned uhn’s by Thurston and Kim – climax(es) – the noisy crescendo during the mid-section, or loins, of the song – and a post-coitus cool-down – with guitars that caress and interweave like lovers’ limbs. Sounds like Pro-Orgasm, no?
This song marks the first appearance of the shared vocals, a welcome new addition that occurs throughout the album, with Thurston and Kim harmonizing and each handling a verse.
3. Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso)
Gregory Corso, a poet of the Beat Generation, said that life on Earth was like a leaky lifeboat. Thurston and Kim, again sharing vocals, expand upon that idea with a tale about a voyage by this vessel. The tale is begun with the buoy-like metallic plings and plungs, generated by the band’s alternate tunings. A growling wah enters soon after providing the feel of a tumultuous sea further threatening the passengers on the already leaking ship. Among the mythical beings mentioned in the lyrics are sirens, whose song Thurston and Kim capture with the mellifluous la-la-la’s that break up the clamor.
For all you Number Theorists: “Lifeboat” is the third song on the album. It clocks in at 3:33. “Leaky Lifeboat” is thirteen letters long. Gregory Corso was born in March, the third month of the year, in 1930. As a teen, Corso was sentenced to three years in prison for the theft of a used suit.
4. Antenna
The first thing I wondered after hearing “Antenna” was, “Did Matador make Sonic Youth listen to the label’s entire back catalog before recording the track? Because this sounds like the genre bound to the label: Indie Rock.” With subsequent listens, however, I shed that cynical view and saw the song as a restless anthem in a guise of nonchalance. The song’s begins very mellow before opening up with the one note chime of the verse. The melody of the chorus reveals the discontent of the song with the line, “Radios play nothing when she’s far away”.
“Antenna” is the second song, out of the first four tracks, that’s over six minutes in length. But just like “Anti-Orgasm” before it, the other over six minutes, it never feels wandering. Not that there is anything wrong with wandering. The band’s previous album, Rather Ripped, had a much looser and wandering vibe to it and it worked to great effect. But both “Antenna” and “Anti-Orgasm” have purpose, even at their length, which is something that The Eternal maintains throughout.
5. What We Know
“I’m in a state of shock” Lee declares on his first song of the album. And you know what? I am too because Lee may just have the best song on the album. Now I’m not shocked because I didn’t think it was possible for Lee to do so, I’m shocked because the time has finally come. Fuck yeah, Lee!
The song features a bass line, which, if met down a dark alley, would make one unsure of whether it wanted to invite you into the clandestine club hidden behind the dumpster or smack you around and take your money, along with the most immediately memorable chorus on the album. “It’s not a quiet meditation” it’s a snarling proclamation.
6. Calming The Snake
“Calming The Snake” takes the swagger of “What We Know” and adds an element of danger. Kim is back on vocals and saying things like “Come on down, down to the river / Come on down, I wanna feel you shiver” in a tone that’s more than a little alarming. With the noise rising in pitch, building the suspense, you realize that Kim may want to kill you.
Like “What We Know”, “Calming The Snake” is anchored by a great bass line compliments of Mark Ibold. Ibold, bass guitarist for Dustdevils, Pavement and Free Kitten, has been touring with the band since May 2006 and makes his studio debut on The Eternal. Just like the shared vocals, Ibold’s presence supplements the band nicely. You can just see that beatific smile of his when you listen to his contributions on the album.
7. Poison Arrow
To answer your questions: No, this is not a No Wave cover of ABC’s new pop classic and yes, that would be rad.
“Poison Arrow” has the best use of the shared vocals on The Eternal, with Thurston covering the verses, with a Lou Reed-like delivery, and Kim and Lee paired up on the chorus, their voices spinning in stereo. The song opens with some of the best guitar parts on the album. There’s a groovy, gutter riff accompanied by what sounds like an out of control band saw. The song ends with thirty seconds of a pummeling one note riff. Along with “What We Know” and “Calming The Snake”, the middle of the album really showcases what Thurston called, in a Stereogum interview, their “excited and newly liberated state of play.”
8. Malibu Gas Station
Another great guitar part, this one soaked in tremolo, moves through “Malibu Gas Station” giving it a bit of a surf vibe, albeit one where the sky is black and the waves savage. Kim’s love for using Americana settings to expose the dark underbelly is again on display here with the line “California magic / Our plans are tragic” and her frantic repetition of “undertow”, as the music, like those savage waves, crashes around her.
Along with “What We Know”, “Malibu Gas Station” is one of the finest moments on The Eternal. Its title harkens back to another Kim song and one of my favorites by the band, “Pacific Coast Highway”, from Sister. Did this skew my assessment of the song? Though it does have a menace to it, it’s nowhere near the level of menace contained in “Pacific Coast Highway”. The music of each is also so much different that any comparison is largely washed away by the cool surf guitar.
9. Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn
Who is Bobby Pyn? Bobby Pyn was an alias for Darby Crash (born Jan Paul Beahm), leader of the late 70’s Los Angeles punk band The Germs. Sonic Youth, always a referential as well as a reverential band, have created “something sharp, loud, or sudden like a clap of thunder” for the singer, who committed suicide on December 7, 1980. The song is short – 2:39 – and powerful – with its rollicking rhythm, electrifying delayed guitars and exuberant whoa-oh-oh’s and yeah-ah-ah’s – much like the life of its namesake.
10. No Way
Let me ask, Thurston, is the reason you say “I ain’t talkin’ to you no more” in “No Way” due to the fact that the “you” of this song is either suffering from psychotic hallucinations or is obsessed with chimerical creatures?
There are angels, devils, succubae and even werewolf commandoes – which is truly an awesome image, so maybe I’m crazy too – in the tenth song of the album. There’s a catchy vocal melody, which is joined by guitar, during the verse. Steve Shelley, Sonic Youth’s eternally solid drummer, really shines on “No Way”, especially during his rolling thunder section around the song’s 2:30 mark.
The great one-two punch of “Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn” and “No Way” are the final contributions by Thurston on The Eternal. His consistency is something that I found myself taking for granted. Sonic Youth has been around for twenty-eight years and created sixteen albums with Thurston being the lead creative force. It is truly an amazing thing that he has been able to maintain such a high level of creativity and quality – not to say that Kim and Lee are slouches by any means – which is a fact that should not be dismissed.
11. Walkin Blue
“Walkin Blue”, Lee’s second and final track, is the most topographical song of The Eternal. It’s a pep talk for our current economic hell. It brings about this image in me of the band playing the song on a flat bed truck down Murray Street, their one time studio stomping grounds, into and around the financial district, with Lee occasionally jumping off the truck to sing to those looking downtrodden on the sidewalks, putting an arm around them and giving them a grin filled with optimism. The arpeggios and ringing lead guitar melody elucidate the lyrical sentiment.
12. Massage The History
As I stated when discussing “Antenna”, the songs on The Eternal all have purpose. The purpose of “Massage The History” – which I think is a terrible title – is to be the last track on an album and to make sure you are aware of this fact. It does so lyrically with Kim’s Jim Morrisonisms – the line “Not everyone makes it out alive” and references to death, the other side and doors – and musically with wispy vocals, acoustic guitar, rotating reverb effects, and introspective twang that combine to give it an overall feel of finality. The song is pleasant but during every listen I find myself drifting off – even with the squall at its center. It may have accomplished its purpose of being a last track, but its general aimlessness works against the rest of the album. “Walkin Blue” would have been a more appropriate endpoint for The Eternal.
How is The Eternal as an album in and of itself?
The Eternal is lean-and-mean, adventurous rock and roll music with purpose, swagger, danger and sex. Its rushing rhythms, vocal dynamics, and distinctive guitar sounds are vigorous and invigorating.
How does The Eternal reflect upon the artistic growth of Sonic Youth?
It is another solid album in the ever-growing – possibly eternal – canon of Sonic Youth. The 00’s streak beginning with Murray Street continues. The album may not reach the heights of their mid-to-late 80’s output – the sacred trilogy of EVOL, Sister and Daydream Nation – but can we or should we expect it to? It is an album that I know I and others will continue listening to by a rock and roll band in their fifties that defy all expectations and will continue to do so.
