Sonic Youth Issue #40

The Eternal (Matador)

By Leah Urbom
Published: June 1st, 2009 | 1:50pm

Leaving the corporate label behind, Sonic Youth returns to grungy roots with a Matador release. They snub the pop influences that have graced past albums and revisit the more experimental sounds that have kept SY continuously releasing for more than a decade. The Eternal was recorded in about a month to capture the immediacy and dissonance the group maintains, as well as escape from major label pressures of creating a set of songs on a concrete schedule.

Single “Sacred Trickster” opens on rapid guitar plucking, building mid-song while Kim Gordon facetiously spits, “What’s it like to be a girl in a band?” Infectiously pounding, “Anti-Orgasm” revisits ‘60s Berlin and Kommune 1 — bringing the grunts and chants of “Anti-war is anti-orgasm!” to fruition. “Antenna” delicately swirls and abandons while “Calming the Snake” is a dementedly torturous temper tantrum. “Malibu Gas Station” embodies friction, and “Massage the History” closes The Eternal on hushed vocals.

The band isn’t necessarily pushing any barriers here, but they’re still undeniably Sonic Youth.

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