After a somewhat unlikely acoustic interlude with his solo album Demolished Thoughts, sometime Sonic Youth member and alt. rock figurehead Thurston Moore has decided to kick out the jams again with Chelsea Light Moving, a new group formed with a bunch of fellow Massachussetts noise enthusiasts.
Moore was always one for lethally heavy guitar freakouts but Sonic Youth’s output was always underpinned by a sophisticated melodic sensibility, which is why they consistently stood out from their underground peers. This ability to pen a memorable tune is very much in evidence on Chelsea Light Moving, with early number ‘Sleeping Where I Fall’ boasting a naggingly catchy melody in between the crunching riffs and distorted noise. ‘Alighted’ on the other hand is the band exercising their experimental tendencies in unapologetic fashion, but is none the worse for it, with the mix of eerie riffing and black metal thrashing proving a thrilling combination.
There are playful stylistic shifts on the album, with Moore and co opting for some short, sharp, snarling punk kicks on ‘Lip’ (central refrain: ‘Too fucking bad!’), coming over all weird-beard art-rock on ‘Groovy & Linda’ and alternating between chilled jamming and squalling riffs on ‘Empires Of Time’. However, perhaps the two most notable tracks see Moore doffing the cap to two key literary influences: ‘Burroughs’ is a tribute to Naked Lunch author William and features wailing riffs and shards of noise, whilst ‘Frank O’Hara Hit’ is an encomium to the beat poet popularised on an episode of Mad Men, and is a vintage piece of SY-style avant guitar action.
Now rising 60, Moore is still rocking out with the best of them