Albums by this artist

"They seem to think I'm disconnected," Thurston Moore sings early on Murray Street, and you have to identify. Sonic Youth never really made it big, and their recent records have been a little long on the reasons why. Now here's their best album since Washing Machine. Let's see if anybody connects.

For most of Murray Street, the gently dissonant three-guitar approach and open-ended song structures of SY's recent work coheres to create something lovely. Opener "The Empty Page" and "Disconnection Notice" build on warped little hooks that constantly shift and double back on themselves. "Karen Revisited" features several false endings and more than 10 minutes of blissful noise. Throughout, Thurston, Lee Ranaldo, and Kim Gordon's guitars are given a solid cliff to leap off from by the demonstrative bass licks of new member Jim O'Rourke.

Vocally, it's mostly Moore's show, though Ranaldo is given the album's centerpiece in "Karen." Gordon seems somewhat pushed to the margins, with her work here limited to the obnoxious "Plastic Sun" (the one bad apple in the bunch) and the closing "Sympathy For The Strawberry." Lyrically, all are adherents of the free-associative school, but none of the lines here get quite as arty-awful as moments on 2000's NYC Ghosts & Flowers.

Sonic Youth know their style, but not always do the pieces click as well as on Murray Street. Certain age-old questions are raised and explored in ways only SY can. Can feedback jangle? How many false endings is too many? Why not a horn section? Whether they came on board at Daydream Nation or Experimental Jet Set, true believers will relish this one.

MARK DONOHUE | Known to some as "Western Homes," Mark is a graduate of UC Berkeley, a starving musician, and a Cubs fan. Be afraid. Very afraid.