Sonic Youth's "The Eternal": Most Diverse Record Yet from Indie-Rock Vets

Sonic Youth's new album The Eternal isn't out until June 9th, but Rolling Stone caught the first preview of the indie-rock legends' sixteenth record, which finds the crew leaving the clasp of major-label-dom for the more comfortable confines of independent label Matador. Recorded last year with producer John Agnello in Hoboken, New Jersey, The Eternal is predictably stellar. The 12 tracks touch on all of the styles Sonic Youth have experimented with over the years, from no-wave noise blowouts circa their self-titled debut ("Anti-Orgasm") to the sharply written power-pop songs of Goo and Dirty ("Sacred Trickster," "Antenna") to the mellower, more-ruminative tracks of their underrated gem A Thousand Leaves (the almost-10-minute closer "Massage the History").

On Sonic Youth's last record, Rather Ripped, the group pared down to a foursome after guitarist-bassist Jim O'Rourke left. But this time around, they're back up to a quintet, with Pavement's Mark Ibold joining in on bass. And for the first time since Moore and Ranaldo shared vocals on "Unwind" (off 1995's Washing Machine), Gordon, Ranaldo and Moore team up on vocal harmonies, best heard on the tracks "What We Know" and "Leaky Lifeboat."

Early pick for the album's best track: "Malibu Gas Station," a fierce, tightly wound rocker anchored by Steve Shelley's insanely precise beat and Moore and Ranaldo's sparking guitar chords. Production notes for the track say that it's "an ode to the flash moment of the camera as you knowingly step from your SUV sans panties." (Lindsay Lohan, anyone?) With a subject like that, you know Gordon — a California native — is on lead vocals. And her contribution puts the track over the top when she quips in her feral-kitten purr lyrics like "I can't move faster/ My face feels plastered." You'll feel the same way when the record hits stores in June.

Related Stories:

• Sonic Youth's June Album "Replete With Juicy Supersonic Songs"
• Sonic Youth Sign to Matador, Prep 2009 Album
• Sonic Youth Say "Goodbye 20th Century" In New Biography, Plus Photos

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

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