Blimey, it's a Sonic Youth LP.  Not since the days when it looked as if Grunge was going to set the musical agenda for a fair few years, drawing Sonic Youth closer and closer to the mainstream through their early-Geffen releases, has the world seemed quite so ready for a Sonic Youth release.  In the interim, they've rolled along, making the world safe for detuned guitars and their own brand of six-string almost-jazz, having children, releasing records with seemingly little-regard for the bottom line and just being there.

This, their sixteenth studio release, harks back to the bubble gum of 'Goo' and 'Dirty'.  Its strength is founded on a backbone of three tracks beginning with Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso), runnning through the languid, drone-lite qualities of Antenna and into mid-tempo inferno What We Know.  Other tracks verge on parody/remix; Thunderclap (for Bobby Pyn) is a virtual photostat of Mary Christ from 'Goo', and Massage: The History augments the Kim Gordon slow fast slow songbook with limited results, but maybe that's the point because, blimey, it's A Sonic Youth LP. Mitherer