[Daycare Nation]

Originally Posted by Lurker

The first one was sarcastic the second was just an attack.

Actually the first one was an accident

Haha that's funny, all the accidental sarcasm in here!

[Daycare Nation]

Originally Posted by Lurker

Actually, I don't know what I'm doing, too tired.

Haha! Everything is funny.

[Gookid]

Originally Posted by Saturnine

it's trendy to tell people to shut the fuck up, so that's what i'm telling you right now.

Saturnine has a dirty mouth! Get it? 'Dirty'?

[Daycare Nation]

Originally Posted by Gookid

Saturnine has a dirty mouth! Get it? 'Dirty'?

lol

[AllHandsOnTheBigOne]

Actually, I'd say it's their second worst since Dirty, but I still think Rather Ripped is rather good.

I guess I come from the old skool line of thinking and believe SY's 80s output on the whole totally outshines the rest of their career. But with that said, even though I was totally disgusted with RR on the first listen, those who say it grows on your aren't lying. The songs are nostalgic and sentimental and I dig it. But most of all I'm just glad it's a slight change of pace from Sonic Nurse.

[Everyneurotic]

nah, nothing can top dirty.

unless it's confusion is sex or goodbye 20th century

[daytripper]

I like the fact that this is a bunch of smart pop-songs. Sonic Youth has a lot of songs that is really demanding. Unlike several other records this is also suitable for running in the background when having a coversation with non sonic fans. On the other side it also packs elements for a deep musical dive...

[krastian]

Theresa's Sound World....COME ON!!!!

[Tokolosh]

This article describes each track on Rather Ripped.
Interesting read.

Posted by Leonard Hayhurst on 06.13.2006

I’m going to say the title means ‘mostly drunk’ because that might help you when listening to this.

Release date: June 13th 2006
Label: DGC Records
Recorded: Sear Studio in New York-late 2005 to early 2006
Engineer: TJ Doherty
Mix Engineer: John Agnello

Total Disc Running Time: 51 minutes and 53 seconds

Personnel:

Thurston Moore-guitars and vocals
Lee Ranaldo-guitars, vocals and organ
Kim Gordon-bass, guitar and vocals
Steve Shelley-drums

Sonic Youth has been around since the early eighties. They took a lot of cues from punk and the underground rock scene. This led them to be tossed in with new wave, but they always had more of a darker edge. Then in the early nineties they were poised somewhere between grunge and alternative rock, but really got weird with the experimentation. If anything, Sonic Youth carries on the tradition of musical experimentation and raw grit of The Velvet Underground and other hardcore pre-punk acts.

Their last album was a welcome return to a more accessible mainstream sound, but it was rich in pop culture irony and esoteric postmodernism. This release seems to be less winking and could even be viewed as a toss off as it's the last album needed to fulfill their contract with Geffen Records. Two elements to note is that Jim O'Rourke has left the band and equipment that was stolen from the group in 1999 was returned to them in late 2005 and were used in this recording.

Track Listing

1) Reena

Good opener that is the core of Sonic Youth. It seems simple and disjointed in lyrics and musical arrangement, but it's really multi-layered. The layering of the guitars speaks of how far they've come from their punk roots while the driving beat shows that they are still loyal to it. The track has overall great musicianship with Shelley letting loose on the drums during the bridge.

2) Incinerate

Peppy musicianship hides the dark tale of a man who waits for the firemen to come while he burns his girlfriend. Whether this is literal doesn't really matter. The same layered sound and driving beat as the first is present here, this track might be a hair slower. Surprisingly catchy.

3) Do You Believe in Rapture?

A very interesting track. The sing-song organ and use of white noise is inventive and perfectly matches Moore's hollow vocals in a skewered examination of Christianity. It's definitely not a candidate for single status.

4) Sleepin' Around

It's classic Sonic Youth anti-social commentary to follow a song exploring religion with one touting the glory of promiscuous sex. A little too much reverb is evident on the bridge, but it then drops into some nice driving guitar work.

5) What a Waste

We smartly change things up with Gordon taking lead vocals. Dissidence and white noise is again played with in the background. This song is a weird mish-mash of death metal and Avril Lavigne styled teenie bopper angst. Hell, Gordon's vocal performance and the truer punk sound of this track is what Lavigne wishes she were.

6) Jams Run Free

A disjointed mess, but that's the point. This song demonstrates what happens when you don't tightly reel in the sound they've demonstrated on the other tracks. Sounds and chords mash into each other and not in the best of ways. The lyrics are just placeholders. As the title points out this is just a jam for the group that was probably too free to be included on a professional studio release.

7) Rats

An intriguing, gritty jazz vibe leaks into this track. This is evident in the bass and keyboard work. It's a welcome change up from the previous tracks, but all the songs on the disc are still structured the same way. One of the more coherent lyrically the story is of a woman who ‘rats' out on her boyfriend. Or so I'm guessing.

8) Turqoise Boy

Nice opener as the chords have a circular movement to them and not the straight ahead drive of the other tracks. The vocals and musicianship is also more low key. Three quarters into the disc this track serves as a nice palate cleanser. Just when you think it's a little too wimpy the guitar line beefs up to send the song home. I would probably term this as my favorite track.

9) Lights Out

A sparse, tinny sound and vocals a millions miles away and filled with angst give this an early grunge sound. Dare I use the word ‘filler' for a Sonic Youth album, but this song just laid there for me.

10) The Neutral

A great track with clever lines. It's about how one being banal and ‘neutral' is the "perfect sin." The character being sung about is not a dreamer, entertainer, cowboy, poet, nothing. He's neutral and within that vexing and hard to define, yet sad and worthless at the same time.

11) Pink Steam

The last track bleeds into this one as we get a five minute solid jam that segues from the last song to this one before the vocals kick in. This gives the piece a certain energy. Once again good drum and guitar work are the highlight.

12) Or

A great closing track. It's slow and introspective. It chastises the current music scene with its focus on money and sexuality when most of the artists don't have a clue as to what is going on. Perhaps you can take this as giving Geffen records the finger as they exit.

http://www.411mania.com/music/album_reviews/41446

[Gookid]

Thanks Tokolosh

[Daycare Nation]

This album continues to unfold and become more and more rich....It makes love to my ears.

[umjammer atomsk]

2) Incinerate

Peppy musicianship hides the dark tale of a man who waits for the firemen to come while he burns his girlfriend. Whether this is literal doesn't really matter. The same layered sound and driving beat as the first is present here, this track might be a hair slower. Surprisingly catchy.

I like this take on the song.

[finding nobody]

thurston told the story of this song in an interview

[umjammer atomsk]

I've read about the swedish girl thing.

[Gookid]

Originally Posted by Daycare Nation

This album continues to unfold and become more and more rich....It makes love to my ears.

Iggy Pop has had it in the ear as well!!!!

[Lurker]

Ok, I'm really getting into this album now, it's nowhere near their best but its good. Some songs I still don't really like though.

[Rob Instigator]

the album gets better every single listen. much more than I cold say for EJST&NS

[Norma J]

I bought the album 2 days ago or so. And I gave it it's first full listen this morning. I'm really digging it. I enjoy it more than Sonic Nurse. But I enjoy all the Sonic Youth albums I own.

[Infinite Spark]

The first impression (post-limewire, it's top of my shopping list) is that there's no real standout track but then there's no Lightning either, maybe the following song-by-song ratings will be a better judge:

Reena....7/10
Incinerate....8/10
Do you believe in Rapture....8/10
Sleepin Around....6/10
What a Waste....5/10
Jams Run Free....6/10
Rats....9/10
Turquoise Boy....7/10
Lights Out....8/10
The Neutral....9/10
Pink Steam....8/10
Or....7/10
Helen Lundeberg....6/10


It's been a while since i've listened to ANY muysic though due to illness, so maybe my judgement's clouded. Rats is AMAZING but i've listened to the album on and off on loop for the last 20hours and nothing jumps out at me, however there's no weaknesses, no songs in the same league as Radiohead's 'Fitter, Happier' or SY's own Lightning....contrary to the ratings of insanity, the jury's still out on this one i'm afraid....

[Inhuman]

Originally Posted by Infinite Spark

The first impression (post-limewire, it's top of my shopping list) is that there's no real standout track but then there's no Lightning either, maybe the following song-by-song ratings will be a better judge:

Reena....7/10
Incinerate....8/10
Do you believe in Rapture....8/10
Sleepin Around....6/10
What a Waste....5/10
Jams Run Free....6/10
Rats....9/10
Turquoise Boy....7/10
Lights Out....8/10
The Neutral....9/10
Pink Steam....8/10
Or....7/10
Helen Lundeberg....6/10


It's been a while since i've listened to ANY muysic though due to illness, so maybe my judgement's clouded. Rats is AMAZING but i've listened to the album on and off on loop for the last 20hours and nothing jumps out at me, however there's no weaknesses, no songs in the same league as Radiohead's 'Fitter, Happier' or SY's own Lightning....contrary to the ratings of insanity, the jury's still out on this one i'm afraid....

Good post! Not a bad rating for them; though I don't really like Rapture and Or that much, and I love Jams Run Free. The ongoing mistake people make is comparing it to everything else Sonic Youth produced. Sure you can say "I like it better than so and so album" but I dislike it when people state "This album sucks because it's not as good as Daydream Nation". When I listen to an album, I do both:

-Assuming I know nothing of the artist and see how I like I like the album
-Listen to it in relation to all the artist's other albums

Really, it's all about what sounds good to the ears.