Thurston Moore / Demolished Thoughts

Thurston Moore
Demolished Thoughts
(Matador)
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If you’d concluded that Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore had gone soft since making an appearance on not one but two cult teen shows in the recent past, then his fourth solo album 'Demolished Thoughts' won’t do much to change that.

Teaming up with Beck, of all people, to produce this latest album, Moore reveals that at 53 years old he’ll do what he wants. He offers almost 50 minutes of haunting musical poetry –with none of the rumbling noise he’s been known for. There are the ambiguous lyrics of songs such as ‘Benediction and ‘In Silver Rain With A Paper Key’, while we also get an ode to the radical woman-poet ‘Mina Loy’. Throughout, harps and violins appear and disappear amidst the acoustic guitars, while off pitch shifts contribute the experimental tone that Sonic Youth became iconic for.

What about those teen show appearances then? Well, if Iggy Pop can feature on insurance ads (and don’t forget Pete and Pete Steph, Iggy was great in that teen classic serial – Ed) and David Bowie can make a cameo appearance on Disney’s Band Camp, all without their radical legacies tarnished, then Moore too is well beyond proving himself - and good for him.