by William LENNON
photo by Phil Sharp
With strong underpinnings in the New York art scene, Sonic Youth was a keystone in the foundation of the ‘90s grunge movement, an island of experimentalism amidst the hardcore chaos surrounding it. While it’s hard to overstate their influence, frontman Thurston Moore has kept busy since the days of peak Sonic Youth. His first solo album, Psychic Hearts, is still widely beloved and he’s participated in notable side projects such as Dim Stars. He was even an instructor for a writer’s workshop at Naropa University in Boulder that folded Buddhist ideas in with more traditional approaches to writing, and reunited with Kim Gordon to collaborate with Yoko Ono on an album after their separation. Moore’s new album, Rock n Roll Consciousness, features Debbie Googe from My Bloody Valentine with some of its lyrics courtesy of poet Radio Radieux. It’s an idealistic, forward-thinking record that resembles Sonic Youth only in its dogged artistic aesthetic.
