You’d be forgiven for thinking that
In case you worrying, though, track one of SY LP number 16, The Eternal, will cure you of any illusions that this band has gone soft. Titled “Sacred Trickster,” the song is two minutes of no-frills punk rock, with an angry vocal turn by bassist Kim Gordon and a fat bottom end that comes courtesy of new fifth band member Mark Ibold (formerly of Pavement).
But this isn’t just some uncomplicated back-to-the-basics record, either.
“Malibu Gas Station” features the squall-free riffing of guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo and minutes more of the clean jam-banding that has dominated recent discs. And “Massage the History,” which closes the album, takes the listener back to earlier ambient-SY territory, with a sprawling structure based on acoustic strums and siren-like background wails.
This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2009.