This is the much-anticipated follow up to Sonic Youth's 2004 release 'Sonic Nurse'. Their 20th studio album, 'Rather Ripped' delivers the kind of compact, rocking style that fans have come to expect, even without the talents of guitarist Jim O'Rourke who left the band in 2005. Engineered By Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Pixies), 'Rather Ripped' shows a continuation of Sonic Youth's uniquely raw sound.

May 2006

Legendary art rockers Sonic Youth are back with their 20th record, the "exquisite" (Uncut) 'Rather Ripped'. Building on an impressive body of work, including classics such as 'Goo', 'Dirty' and 'Murray Street', 'Rather Ripped' picks up where 2004's acclaimed 'Sonic Nurse' left off, with standout tracks like 'Incinerate', 'Reena' and 'Do You Believe In Rapture?', showing how fresh and relevant they still are. This UK version also includes two exclusive bonus tracks, 'Helen Lundeberg' and 'Eyeliner'. As the band say themselves: "This is a straight-up Sonic Youth field on fire, with a compact potency of rock 'n' roll enlightenment".

• NME (17/06/06, p.37) - 7 (out of 10) - "...a really good record."
  Uncut - 4 (out of 5) - "Exquisite."
  The Fly (06/06, p.62) - 3 (out of 5) - "A timeless, velvet-kick, underground-slanted freak 'n' roll workout."

Includes 2 bonus tracks.
Sonic Youth's turn-of-the-century output has shown a marked focus on the more abstract aspects of the band's sound, as evidenced by, if nothing else, the prolific number of experimental releases on the band's SYR imprint, including the double-album tribute to avant-garde composers, GOODBYE 20TH CENTURY. And while to use the phrase "stylistic departure" is unbefitting of a band with such catholic tastes and influences, the straightforward pop element that marks 2006's RATHER RIPPED, the band's 14th proper studio album, is so pronounced and, to a certain extent, jarring, it's difficult not to focus in on it. From the Thin Lizzy-like twin-guitar interlude on "Incinerate" to the gentle lullaby melody of "Do You Believe in the Rapture" (arguably the loveliest song Sonic Youth has produced since "Diamond Sea") to Kim Gordon's new-found pop croon on the opener, "Reena," and "Turquoise Boy," the band hasn't made a record with this many fun, enjoyable tunes in years. Of course accessible is a relative word when discussing Sonic Youth, and by no means has the band lost its edge. Even at its most poppy, Sonic Youth still twist and gnarl any rock troupe they encounter. But on RATHER RIPPED, the band that essentially created noise rock have once again placed the rock front and center.

Drawing equally from punk rock and new-music pioneers such as John Cage and Glenn Branca (whom guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo both played with), Sonic Youth employed a palette of white noise that deconstructed punk-rock orthodoxy into radical new configurations. Seemingly the opposite of what major labels would want in a band, Sonic Youth inked a deal with Geffen records in the late 1980s and caught the ear of a certain mainstream listenership. With the release of their 16th proper studio album, RATHER RIPPED, in 2006, Sonic Youth secured their position as icons of underground and alternative culture.