Moore Demolishes Distortion

Full disclosure: Sonic Youth’s “Daydream Nation” is one of my favorite albums ever.

Also, to be perfectly honest, I have little experience with anything Thurston Moore beyond Sonic Youth, and I find it hard to swallow anything from him that’s not backed by ripping guitars, pounding rhythm and a constant, unconstrained feedback.

Moore’s new album “Demolished Thoughts” is the fourth full-length in the art rocker’s solo career, and although more tamed and fully acoustic, it finds new ways to pack a punch and save the wall of noise and distortion.
 
The album opener, “Benediction,” is a song that is, for the most part, a good representative for the album in its entirety: slow, soft, dreamy and easy to listen to while retaining some of the definite tropes that make Moore an acclaimed songwriter.
Songs like “Circulation” and “In Silver Rain with a Paper Key” have a familiar vibe for fans of Sonic Youth, the basic formula of the band’s songwriting intact — same chord progressions, angsty lyrical deliveries and content — along with acoustic guitars and a group of stringed instruments.

Overall, it was hard to not want the songs on the album to go somewhere more adventurous, noisy and focused. “Demolished Thoughts” is a beautiful album that is considerate to the listener’s ear and has its standout tracks (“Benediction”, “Circulation”, “Space”), but leaves me feeling like something is missing.

By Aaron Bragg