Customer Reviews

Sonic Nurse

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

From the keyboard of a devoted Sonic Youth fan:
Out of Sonic Youth albums? A four out of five. Of other 2004 albums? A five out of five. From the start of "Pattern Recognition" to the end of "Peace Attack" you'll get your fair share of the Youth's melodic dissonance. It's a more structured and separated album compared to that of Washing Machine and NYC Ghosts & Flowers in that each song is unique and clearly distinguished from one another.

"Pattern Recognition" is the strong start that such an album requires with Kim's unruffled vocals. As Pattern Recognition finishes, enter:

"Unmade Bed," a mellow "Thurston" song that, for myself, took a while to grow on me, but in the end, I love it. It's also a favorite of theirs to play at the late night shows they have been frequenting recently. An excellent choice on S.Y.'s part in that it features another of their beautiful cacophonous instrumental interludes.

You get another dose of Thurston's singing in the third track "Dripping Dream." The background of their three screeching guitars in the first verse slides into an easy, almost jazz-like, chorus. Then, since it runs for almost eight minutes you get another healthy dose of Sonic's instrumental noise-genius.

Next up? "Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" This song is always announced live as "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" but was changed on the album to avoid lawsuit. It's driven by Gordon's convicting and almost harsh lyrics that encourage Mariah to "get down before you fall and hurt someone." Open to interpretation, but to myself, comments on the superficial attitude of the entertainment industry.

"Stones" is a Thurston piece, a beautiful piece, not one of the best, but it still retains plenty of Sonic enjoyment for the listener.

"Dude Ranch Nurse" will mend. Just let Nurse give you a shot. It's well worth it for this song, sung by Kim with an appealing overlying tune.

"New Hampshire" begins with a cool minute twenty intro. Featuring the wonderful Mr. O'Rourke playin' a catchy bass line and the great Mr. Moore on vocals.

Now we have Lee singing for us in "Paper Cup Exit." Of Lee's previous work, this ranks up there with the likes of "Skip Tracer" and "Mote". This song number eight will pick you back up if you have zoned out of the album by now.

"I Love You Golden Blue" refers more to Sonic Youth's love of odd assortments of noise contained within a satisfying two-minute plus intro that builds up into a perfectly reasonable S.Y. song. Kim's vocals sound melodiously discordant and almost sad in this serene song.

Finally, we have "Peace Attack." It's a truly conclusive song that is a calm finish compared to the vigorous start produced by "Pattern Recognition."

The enhanced edition of this CD also contains a video called "Unwritten," which is an "examination of the process behind the writing of 'Paper Cup Exit'" and a music video for "Peace Attack." Both are accessible through your CD-ROM drive.

i am 16 years old, and have been enjoying Sonic Youth for about half a year now. Daydream Nation is my favorite, however, often times aged music is scorned on by my peers, and it isnt something that we'd listen to together in the car. This album, although nowhere near as revolutionary as their other albums is very catchy and enjoyable. And is personally valuable to me because it is proof of a living legend, and because it is new it justifies listening to it with friends. Old SY fans will definately enjoy this album, while ppl new to SY may or may not enjoy Sonic Nurse. For you newbies be warned that this music isnt simple and pretty. It is often dissonent, intense, and confusing, but not to fear as there are plenty of pretty melodies -- because of this contrast of sound the music is a much more accurate description of life, and IMO, a much more satisfying listen...Sonic Youth has definately become a part of my life as I hope it will yours, and I would love nothing more than to see a live performance in my lifetime. Definately check out EVOL, Daydream Nation, Dirty, and Sy's other wondreful and inspiring works!

Sonic Youth is an interesting band to say the least. They stand pretty much alone in their advant-garde noise rock style, yet have influenced many bands throughout the years.
Sonic Nurse, along with Murray Street, is a twilight album. The underlying meanings in the songs are less agressive than in their earlier days, and the intrumentalization has drastically toned down in intensity.
But the undeniable Sonic Youth Presence is still their. The somewhat sloppy guitar solos of Lee Ranaldo, the mellow, expressive voice of Thurston Moore, the compitent drumwork of Steve Shelly, and Kim is still pounding away on the bass.
Here is a rundown of the songs on the album:

Pattern Recognition: Decent Kim opener. Sets the dark tone for the album. 7/10

Unmade Bed: Fantastic heartfelt song about a woman who is ready to get back into a destructive relationship. The narrator is trying to stop her. 9/10

Dripping Dream: The most expressive sounding song on the album. The guitar solos are golden. 9/10

Mariah Carey and the Arthur Conan Doyle Hand Cream: Here's a fact about the band Sonic Youth: Kim Gordan can not sing all that well. The harder she tries, the worse she sounds. 5/10

Stones: Awesome intro, but the song kind of gets tedious: 7.5/10

Dude Ranch Nurse: Good Kim song, cool guitar effects: 7.5/10

New Hampshire: This song sounds overdone at times, but it still solid. 8/10

Paper Cut Exit: The only song on this album where Lee sings, its a pretty good 9/11 song. 7.5/10

I Love You Golden Blue: This is an awesome, awesome Kim song. She whispers the vocals, which adds to the somewhat lonesome effect of the song. 9/10

Peace Attack: Great song with cool guitar solos. Very Mellow. 9/10

I am not going to say that this is their best album (_Daydream Nation_, _Sister_, and _Evol_ share that honor); I am not even going to say that it is better than _Murray Street_. It is well worth listening to over and over again, though. It seems they have returned to form for good, though.

Much of what SY released in the '90's is expendable after _Goo_ (which is why you won't hear them play a lot off of albums like _Ghosts & Flowers_ and _Experimental Jetset_ live). _Murray Street_ seemed to fix that, shooting an exhilarating new mode of melodic noise into their harsher contours. SY doesn't rest on _Murray Street_, but instead brings in melodic outbursts when fitting, wild dissonances out of the blue, power-rock when needed, and etc. In short, this album is a wonderful synthesis of all their best elements throughout their two-decade-plus career. That could be a bad thing, but SY plays it up for all it is worth and creates several very memorable songs, including one classic.

The first listen through, like many people here, I thought "Oh well, another SY album," with one exception. I loved "Dripping Dream." Many listens later now, I have an affinity for many of the songs (the line "Let nurse give you a shot/ it's something to do" distracts me throughout the day), but "Dripping Dream" rocks my world to a higher degree every time I listen to it. "Pattern Recognition" is also very strong.

In short, I don't believe SY will ever recapture the glory of their halcyon days in the '80's. Being on a major label put an end to their desperate edge for good. This doesn't mean their new material is not essential, though. They are still opening up new routes into the future for rock'n'roll. In the case of _Sonic Nurse_, they do this simply by getting stronger at many of the things that made them great to start with. Maybe if they revive SST they can put out another _Sister_. 'Til then, I'll stay faithful as they put out strong releases like this one.

Initially I thought this record was okay, definitely not a patch on Murray Street (an album which totally revitalised my interest in Sonic Youth, which had reach nil with NYC G&F...)...after a few more spins, the weak tracks seemed stronger, and I felt it was at least as good as Murray, maybe even as good as "Dirty"...now, after a few more, I am enslaved completely. This is the best album ever. I may be an exception as I've always preferred 90's SY to '80's SY, but...damn. The worst thing I can say about this album is that it's not the most challenging or original thing they've done...but, when you have an entire album seemingly constructed out of the same cloth as "Rain on Tin", "Diamond Sea", "Theresa's Sound World" and "Dirty Boots", there's no appropriate response but TOTAL PLEASURE OVERLOAD. It's like the members of SY have directed all of their massive compositional and instrumental skills, honed to perfection over 20 years, towards one singular goal: creating the most drippily gorgeous, spacewardly psychedelic guitar jammage ever conceived.

I read an interview with Thurston Moore where he was quoted (or perhaps mis-quoted) as saying that the feel of 'Sonic Nurse' was influenced by the Stooges, whom Sonic Youth supported last year during their brief reunion tour. "We're getting back to just making noise and havin' fun" -- or something along those lines. Consequently - and fueled by other misleading pre-release publicity hype - I expected this album to be a return to the more hard-rocking, post-punk, energetic late 80s - early 90s 'Goo'/'Dirty' style Sonic Youth. In actual fact 'Sonic Nurse', is gentler overall and more contemplative in nature than their last release 'Murray Street' (which is amongst my favourite few SY releases, incidentally). 'Sonic Nurse' shimmers and pulses a lot more than it rocks and throbs. The mood of the album is fairly consistent throughout, with the notable exception of Track 4, the abrasive and oddly titled 'Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream' which sticks out like a sore thumb here and could indeed easily pass as on out-take from 'Goo'. The remainder of the tracks here flow nicely into each other and the album has a pleasantly cohesive and spacious feel. My favourite track for now is 'New Hampshire' - which reminds me of some of the best 'Murray Street' tracks in the way it builds, while the first single (and shortest track here)'Unmade Bed' failed to grab me. Overall I think 'Murray Street' was a bit stronger (there's nothing here that stands up against 'Rain on Tin' in my opinion) but this is still a continuation of the great form that Sonic Youth are in right now, and I'm looking forward to seeing them perform live on their upcoming tour of Australia.

Sonic Youth. Either you love em or hate em. I love em, but can recognize that many of the albums they have put out haven't been too good. Everything they've done I compare to "Daydream", one of the most influential albums in modern rock. Whether that's fair or not, I'm not sure, but that's the way it is. "Daydream" came in my youth, and it felt like mine and many other's soundtrack to their lives. I've been hoping and hoping that one day they'd find that dark place again, the place that only "Daydream" can take me to.

To my complete astonishment, they have found it again in "Sonic
Nurse". Don't get me wrong, it isn't "Daydream Nation", but it is so close it's amazing. The first track absolutely hooks you, and when you move further into the album, you're continually paid off for years of hoping they'd find this sound again.

I won't review the whole album, even though I've listened to it 6 times in 2 days, because I just do not want to tarnish your experience with it.

A lot of "punk" rock these days is not even related to punk rock. This is real. This is one purchase you will absolutely not regret. I can't say that for many bands.

Enjoy.

It's always a beautiful thing when a veteran bands stick to its roots, Sonic Youth's new album, Sonic Nurse, is no exception. It seems as if free-form experimental rock is making its way back through the emotion of this album. Going back to Daydream Nation with experimental jams and hard-hitting power chords, the Youth achieve equivalent if not improved auditory sensations. The band seems to capture the feeling of its live performances and those who have seen Sonic Youth live know that live performances are the best possible representations of this band.

After releasing Murray Street, it was said that the Youth finally "returned to form" but give an honest listen to Sonic Nurse and your mind will be flip-flopped in the other direction. Bassist Kim Gordon shines on this album by showing her presence much more than she has in the past. Her vocals are spine-tingling throughout the album and it reminds you how great it is to hear her many contributions.

"Pattern Recognition" sets the album off in the right direction, with a straightforward track headed by the infamous Gordon screaming, "You're the one!" It makes you feel as if ... well, you're the one. "Dripping Dream," a standout track on the album, recalls the renowned dirty melodies this band has come up with over the years. Now, for any Sonic Youth fan, you know you can't really go long without feeling some sort of attack towards a Bush. Yes, I speak of good ol' Georgie and his son G.W. Back "in the day" it was "Youth Against Fascism" off Daydream Nation that aimed the barrel towards Bush and today it leads into Sonic Nurse's "Peace Attack" and "Stones." This is a further representation that Sonic Youth is sticking with old habits.

"Unmade Bed" is just one of those mellow tracks you can see yourself bobbing along to in a small club. The melodic sense of it is very low key, as is the tempo. Speaking of low key, the main stand out on the album, "I Love You Golden Blue," recalls the vocal feel that is Kim Gordon. Not a bad thing by any means, but it could've gone without the two minutes of unnecessary feedback at the beginning. But hey, that's Sonic Youth for you.

Long-time listeners want nothing short of what they have come to expect and this is the perfect album for them. With Sonic Nurse, those expectations will be fulfilled with ease and a bit more may be in store.

Just like their previous album Murray Street, Sonic Youth has toned down the screeching cacaphony of their earlier albums and focused on making more melodic music, while still including the howling guitars where needed. This new album is excellent. Many SY fans from the "old" days say that they don't like this new melodic side to SY and are used to all the chaos and disorders on the older albums. I find this album more appealing than those...

I thought Murray Street, although a little subdued, was an amazing return to form, and it was, but Sonic Nurse has topped it by a considerable amount. The freshness of the music has come to full force and the songwriting has rarely been better. The first two tracks, "Pattern Recognition" and "Unmade Bed", are two of the best songs they've written in their whole career. With Sonic Nurse they have stricken a perfect blend of noise and songwriting, putting together all the best aspects of their style on one record. Certainly, these guys are the grandaddy's (in Kim's case, grandmother) of alternative music, and have a lot of experience at making records, and instead of sounding washed out they have honed in on their musical talent and made a record that ranks up there with "Daydream Nation" and "EVOL". This album is especially refreshing in an era in which anything but cookie cutter rock isn't even given a second look by major record companies. Maybe that's why this is even more amazing - today's musical landscape, in many ways, is the least creative and most derivative, at least at the mainstream level, than it has been in the history of music. Only musical giants like Sonic Youth, who have already proven themselves, can leak through and get some attention. More power to them. They rock.