Thurston Moore
The Best Day

Thurston Whore and Kim Gordon are no longer together. Rest in peace to the souls of millions of fans who always saw the two as the most beautiful couple in the world, and cheers to those still hoping to hook up with the punk princess one day or another. The fact is that the sonic youth has currently dissolved, and everyone is doing their own thing. Nobody is twiddling their thumbs: Lee is wandering around with his acoustic guitar (seen in SAN COSTANZO - really, an armpit of a place in the province of Pesaro. He's doing well, but he looks a bit aged and, above all, nostalgic). Kim recorded an album with the new idea Body/head (not really my thing. De gustibus). Thurston Moore has a new girlfriend and is living in London, where he's breathing fresh air. He came out in 2012 with a new band – Chelsea Light Moving – and a CD that I quite enjoyed, but maybe he got tired of it and decided that one album was more than enough under this guise.

In 2014, The Best Day is released. The band is composed of[EP1] (how come? Were you forgetting about him?) Mr. Steve Shelley on drums – it went exactly like this: “hey Steve? how’s it going? listen… I’m putting a band together, you in?” – “sure, but you’ll pay for my plane ticket”. On bass Debbie Googe from the good old MBV who plays tough, and then this guy on guitar, James Sedwards, don't know who he is, and personally, he didn't impress me. So they recorded everything in London, in the already mentioned 2014.

The cover and booklet images portray Mrs. Moore in her golden days, I’d say. It's the mother of our dear musician, who on the front is accompanied by a dog, during a refreshing bath somewhere unknown; while inside the booklet, we find her in loving exchanges with (I believe, I hope) daddy Moore. Sorry for the lack of seriousness. It’s a nice cover.

Anyway.

The album is amazing. Now. The opening is a knockout track. It’s called “Speak To The Wild” and it's a fairy tale/story/nightmare introduced by hypnotic harmonics and developed on regular guitar riffs and appealing vocals. It’s been a while since I heard a track so beautiful. The title-track is the catchiest piece but the folk soul makes me move a little and I have fun overall. I personally enjoy the end of the album, with a fairly epic “Grace Lake” and “Germ Burns” closing everything more than worthily, I would dare to admit. In the middle, watch out, nothing new. It's an album by a ssssonic member and thus sssonical, the album stays. But those who have ears trained for whistles and a bit of healthy noise, may enjoy it as I did. Personal note of disapproval for the melodies (a bit too tied to those guitar riffs. De gustibus).

So I'm waiting for the next one, and anything else that comes from the dear noisy guys.

PS I am biased, but I would emphasize the consistency, the quality, the inspiration, the quantity, the charisma, the originality of the sonic youth family (ok, they're not together now but who knows).

PPS I saw them in Amsterdam not long ago, they played new material and will release the second CD in 2016. So they’re eager too. The new tracks are valid as well. They play great.

PPPS I think our hero is very fond of the new girlfriend. He seems inspired.