Some Sonic Youth records hit a mainline in an instant (for this listener, that would be “Daydream Nation” and “Murray Street”, the former of which I would hope to have room for in the bag of discs I plan to carry with me across the Styx); others take a while to wend their way through your bloodstream before bursting slowly in your brain (“A Thousand Leaves”); others - not many - fail to make the journey (the justly maligned “NYC Ghosts + Flowers”).
“Sonic Nurse” is taking longer than most to reveal its secrets. It’s impossible to write off (for one thing, it highlights Steve Shelley’s drumming in a way that I’ve never noticed before, although perhaps I just haven’t been listening), but I’m still struggling to find a way into it. There is more of the latter-day Kim Gordon, and appearing earlier on the disc, than I would prefer (I don’t know why I find her recent vocal performances grating; I certainly have less patience than I used to have, just ask Adrienne, so maybe that’s it) and I should say that the “old-style” Gordon who appears on “Dude Ranch Nurse” and “I Love You Golden Blue” brooks no complaint whatsoever. I would also make the observation that Jim O’Rourke is now so seamlessly woven into the fabric of the band that it’s difficult, except in a couple of spots, to tell where he starts and the rest of the band ends, and that Thurston Moore’s broad-canvas exploration of 70s “rock”, begun on “Murray Street”, is admirably continued here.
Mention should also be made of their adaptation of William Gibson’s “Pattern Recognition”, which, while perhaps not a great choice as opening song, will, hopefully, cause more people to read what is an unfairly maligned novel, and of their liberal use of Richard Prince paintings (recalling the Gerhard Richter candles that appeared on “Daydream Nation”), necessitating ownership of the vinyl as well as the digital versions. Both of which just go to show how important Sonic Youth are in so many ways, and how broadly (and tastefully) their nets are cast. Oh, and the guitars sound simply beautiful throughout.
So, my preliminary conclusion about “Sonic Nurse” is that there is no reason to panic; perhaps with time it will take its place with the great Sonic Youth records after all, albeit hidden behind a couple of problematic tracks early on (reminiscent, you might say, of some of Steve Waugh’s later triumphs, or of the Triffids’ “Born Sandy Devotional”, which also recovered after a very shaky start to go on and score a majestic hundred). At the very least, there is life in the old buggers yet.
