Alt-rock legends' latest rather good

Let's get some things straight first: I am not all that familiar with Sonic Youth's works. I have dabbled briefly in Sonic-Youthry, having heard bits and pieces from their many records in the last couple of years. And I can tell you that they are very talented group of musicians, and that I enjoy their music immensely (what I've heard thus far). That being said, there isn't a lot of background info that I can provide you. \nSonic Youth are one of those bands that mature a little more with every album (I've lost track of how many albums they've put out now). They are a mature band to begin with, and they are getting older and older, but that's not the point. The point is that there is some great songwriting and musicianship present here. \nRather Ripped starts off very mellow, with the female third of Sonic Youth's vocal team Kim Gordon (she plays bass as well) singing with a syrupy quality that is soothing but rough and off key at the same time. The other Gordon tracks vary in mood from somber to chill, to a little more energetic. Gordon's tracks stand out and shine in regards to the other two male vocalists (not being sexist here); and "Turquoise Boy" (the longest track on the album at 6:14) is simply outstanding: very haunting and epic with some beautiful lyrics.\nSurprisingly, there is quite a bit of variety in these 12 tracks, although they happen to be very similar in mood at times. Singer number two, Thurston Moore, muses on the rockin', yet slightly overproduced "Sleepin' Around," and mumbles and rambles about something or other on the album's interesting closer "Or." His tracks are the weakest of the three vocalists, but they are by no means bad.\nFor the most part, this album is very mellow and chill with beautiful poetic lyrics. But at the same time, there are some rockin' tracks, that are confined, and don't get too out of control with noise as Sonic Youth is known for. The odd guitar tuning is still here as well. Sonic Youth's final vocalist, Lee Ranaldo, has one lonely track on this album. "Rats" is very feedback and solo friendly, being probably the noisiest track on this album aside from the noise at the end of "Turquoise Boy."\nSonic Youth is a paradigm of a band. Noisy guitars coalesce with sweet melodies in a way that no other band in modern rock has been able to do. Twenty-five years and running, the Youth aren't exactly youthful anymore, but the heartfelt energy that they bring to their music is stronger than ever. This album is darker and relatively shorter when compared to their other releases (if 51 minutes is short…well, for Sonic Youth it is) and they let melody overpower songwriting. A great album for fans and newcomers alike, Rather Ripped could contend for best alternative album of 2006, hands down.