Sonic Youth
Washing Machine

THE REVIEW

"The guitar guy played real good feedback, and super sounding riffs..."

Sonic Youth will never cease to amaze. After the disappointing "Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star," everyone saw them as being out of ideas, adrift... Yet, in '95, after participating in the LOOLAPALOOZA traveling festival, they released a new album, "Washing Machine," where they once again question everything, returning to explore new sounds. Of course, there are the dissonances and guitar rides that made "Daydream Nation" and "Sister" masterpieces, but there are also new elements, like the gentle "Unwind," the slowest track composed by Moore & co. up to that point.
The rest of the album is just as compelling. As you continue listening, you encounter gems like "Becuz," "Skiptracer," and up to "The Diamond Sea," which not only concludes the album but is also its true masterpiece: 20 astonishing minutes, where they slowly take us to the brink, to hell, that "noise" that only they can make so well...

In short, "Washing Machine" confirms that the genius of the New York group is far from faded: in the following years, excellent albums like "A Thousand Leaves" and "Murray Street" would be released, and if their latest effort, "Sonic Nurse," seems to have marked their decline for many, it matters little: Sonic Youth have done their part. And they have certainly done it well.