CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING

CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING (Matador)

16/20

After 25 years of marriage and three decades of conjuring the most effectual guitar noise ever made, it was announced in 2011 that Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore were separating, leaving the future of Sonic Youth uncertain. The group’s post- hiatus solo projects have seen Kim push boundaries, Lee go all wholesome and Thurston mellow out. But fortunately, Moore still harbours an unyielding love for the same art-punk intensity his listeners have a fundamental thirst for. Chelsea Light Moving opens with Heavenmetal, a floppy haired, jangly indie-pop song fronted by Moore’s tender croak. But the mood of tranquillity is soon crushed by pulverising thrash riffs and brutal, distorted thunderstorm of Alighted. Thematically, the record is a collage of Moore’s infatuation with 60s countercultural figures. The band are named after a removal company set up by Phillip Glass and Steve Reich, while Roky Erikson, Frank O’Hara and iconic hippy murder victims Linda Fitzpatrick and James “Groovy” Hutchinson are explicitly referenced. This record has been criticised for its predictability, but by the time the climax of Burroughs arrives, and Moore and Keith Wood’s left arms scale the necks of their Fenders, furiously shredding the slimmest frets at an accelerated pace, a flush of adrenaline obliterates the ability to scrutinise.

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Words: David Reed