On their sixteenth album and first studio release in two years, Sonic Youth, now in their 50s, return with new attitudes and fewer inhibitions. The Eternal is the group’s first album with their new indie label Matador Records.
The Eternal runs with a language that may be very familiar to Sonic Youth fans. There are intricate and woven guitar chords under lyrics that combine messages, observations, accusations and harmonies that make the messages heard. The album, unlike many of the band’s past, does not try to fit into a shape that it is not, and by doing so, it accomplishes a dynamic, longer, and more intriguing collection of songs.
Produced by both the band and John Agnello, The Eternal marks Sonic Youth’s return to the indie label scene as well as one of their more inspired efforts of their 28-year career. The band's experimental additions of shared vocals between Moore and his fellow guitarists and singers, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo, effectively produce a sound less about musical maturity and more about explosive experience.
After four albums with their previous label, Geffen Records, guitarist and singer Thurston Moore said in an interview with Rolling Stone that it felt good to be freed from the major label system in writing “a record replete with juicy supersonic songs.” The band plays with a renewed sense of aggression that resonates from their signature guitar tones, which include irregular tunings and strange sounds. These tones are often dissonant yet remain in harmony with one another.
The insanity of songs like “No Way” and “Sacred Trickster” are brief yet intriguing because of their collection of heavy guitars and message-driven vocals. Other songs like “Anti-Orgasm” and “Malibu Gas Station” reign true to much of the group’s hay days when they were a younger group in the late 1980s.
“Massage The History,” the album’s closing track that runs for nearly 10 minutes, features a simple acoustic guitar riff and the most driven and climactic vocals Gordon has ever done. The song flows with a gentle texture that seems absent from the rest of the album, but is appropriate because of the exploding guitars from the songs before it.
The album demonstrates much of the same Sonic Youth that their fan base has been in love with for decades, displaying many of the band’s influences through their lyrics, tones, and vocal arrangements. Like almost any of the band's albums, The Eternal is full of unusual references to obscure works and artists including Gregory Corso, and lyrics about sex, feminism, and celebrity. For the first time in tracks like “Poison Arrow,” the band sings in tandem with thicker guitars behind them.
The Eternal is aggressive, intense, and most of all, direct with its sound. This is coming from a band that has consistently sounded only like themselves throughout the many years of their career.
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