SONIC YOUTH - The Eternal

There is a timelessness about Sonic Youth that makes this title less a pompous declaration than simply a given. Sure, Kim and Thurston may call the suburbs home, but SY are still NYC cool all the way, babe. On The Eternal, the band firmly continues the renaissance that began with 2002's awesome Murray Street and was solidified further by '06's surprisingly poppy Rather Ripped. This might seem too easy a comparison given that they just severed a 20-year relationship with Geffen to return to their indie roots, but I find the album most reminiscent of the band's last two albums prior to signing with DGC, '88's Daydream Nation and 87's Sister. Is it as good as those? That's a tall order for sure, but much like Lou Reed's New York, The Eternal bears the marks of now- legendary artists embracing their own strongest qualities without shame or redundancy. In other words, Sonic Youth close out the '00s with an argument for it being as solid a decade as they've ever had.