Covering the last decade of the band's existence, and causing something of a re-evaluation in the process, the new Sonic Youth release is out on Friday. In/Out/In, on Three Lobed Recordings, collects primarily instrumental selections from a variety of sources. That the album has a holistic vibe, and feels nearly like a SY release is a testament to the label and curators here.
Epic opener "Basement Contender" sounds like a marathon run at the first few notes of "Coney Island Baby" stretched into a sort of free jazz form, while "Machine", also from the 2008 sessions for The Eternal, is rougher still. This one nearly achieves lift-off, and a listener can easily imagine what the vocals of either Kim or Thurston would have done to this one. Elsewhere, two cuts with Jim O'Rourke illustrate two different flavors of Sonic Youth. "Social Static", from 2000, is abrasive and discordant, the sound of noise being shaped into something, while "Out/In" finds the band taking that noise on a ride. There's a little "Dirty Boots" or "Green Light" here, though the riffs here suggest a more determined approach than on the feedback workouts of the band's past. If this isn't as sharp as Goo and its more familiar numbers, it's full of the kind of attack that these players brought to their best records. The addition of Jim O'Rourke adds shades of meaning, and new flavors of apocalyptic ruminations to the proceedings here.
In/Out/In is out on Friday via Three Lobed Recordings.