Chris DeLine

At this point in his life Thurston Moore could get away with committing murder if he wanted; musically speaking, of course. Not to overlook the handful of solo albums he’s logged over the past two decades, but this year marks Sonic Youth’s 30th anniversary as a band. Without delving into Steve Albini-type babble about what it means to sell out, it’s pretty safe to say that despite flirting with mainstream success, Sonic Youth have done well at living off the commercial grid for much of those 30 years. Add to it that Moore and the band are still making relevant music (and playing the fuck out of it live) at this stage in their collective career and as far as I’m concerned that should lend them a free pass to do whatever they want and call it a jam. If doing that might be considered committing artistic murder and getting away with it, the first cut from Moore’s new solo album would be living a picturesque life as a model citizen (this metaphor’s going nowhere, sorry). Fact of the matter is that the beauty harnessed within “Benediction” is not merely unexpected, but the song is comforting on levels not typically associated with Moore and his largely noise-focused body of work. “Demolished Thoughts burnishes Thurston’s rep as a classic songwriter in ways we never anticipated,” explained Matador co-owner Gerard Cosloy in a blog post a few weeks back. If “Benediction” is any indication, it would certainly appear that way. The Beck Hansen-produced Demolished Thoughts (the album, not the “supergroup” which subsequently failed to really materialize into anything substantial) will be released May 24 via Matador.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]