That's a good point.

I assumed "Stonesy" was more in the vein of previous working titles like "Chicago" or "ZZ" or "Sade" or "Lindsey" or even "Celtic Frost"...

Where did the info that Lee sings on "Rapture" come from? I don't hear him at all...

Will be curious to see if that promo w/ the alternate titles has any actual alternate versions from the 'regular' promo...

Oh,. and "Rats" is the weirdest fucking (can I say that here?) Lee song I've ever heard.

Kim sounds very elegant throughout, some different vocal tones...

June 13th is way to far away...

Edit: Damn

You mean June 13th:D

liar... if you had opportunity to see it, go back where you saw it and demand a copy, damn! its like, pearl jam new album will be out in 24 days officialy, but it still hasnt been leaked... i have the feeling that the same will happen to the new sonic youth album. i cant wait for another 2 months, grrr!




you too have the promo? grrr.... leak it! i mean, just for us, not neccessarily on emule where every idiot would be able to get it. damn!
If you want to hear lee vocals on Rapture, download the interview from air america radio (in sonic sharing), at the beginning of rapture lee is saying somehting, although he is not at the radio studio i guess :)

Why would you want to someone to leak a band's album that you love (I'm assuming, yr on a stupid fan forum)?

"WATERMARKED CD This record has been marked with a specific identification code in order to trace any unauthorized use thereof. Including usage on the internet and other digital replications. Geffen Records hereby reserves all of its rights at law or in equity with respect to this record and all materials embodied thereon."


...YOU THINK I WANNA FUCK WITH GEFFEN?!?!??!

Eh, you want me to post some lyrics or something?

Thanks for the info on "Rapture", will check it out...

so chris, can we get a brief review song by song, with lengths of the songs and who sing what??? i can't wait

there's a interesting thread discussing the new LP on the forum on the Plan B website: http://www.planbmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3757

have you never thought this watermark is a bullshit to scare you? :D was the CD made especially for you? hey, why dont you stream it for us, using shoutcast? :D just set the date, dude, so we can all tune in! :D

Hey Chris, i really want to know if you like the album?
You got me all excited when you wrote about Murray Street and said that SY "nailed it".

Sure...

On the whole, I'd describe the album as 'dreamy', w/ lots of arpeggios and harmonics. It's mostly upbeat, lots of pretty note progressions, lots of Lee exercising his leads, a few rockers. It's not a radical distance from Murray Street/Nurse, but I think people craving that 'quartet' feel will be satisfied.

01. REENA (Kim) 3'47"


GREAT opener, gets you hoppin' right out the gate -- "you keep me comin' home again". Kim rules!

02. INCINERATE (Thurston) 4'55"

Bouncy Thurston pop with a dark undertone.. "I ripped your heart out from your chest / Replaced it with a grenade blast" "You doused my soul with gasoline / You flicked a match into my brain" "The firefighters are so nice / I remember you so cold as ice / The flames are licking at your feet / The sirens come to put me out of misery"

03. DO YOU BELIEVE IN RAPTURE? (Thurston) 3'11"

97% harmonics -- a weird little disjointed tune, I love that they can still craft songs with this feel. Hard to explain, but I guess you've all heard it in some form. Still don't hear Lee, unless he's so buried and distorted I'm mistaking him for a beatbox.

04. SLEEPIN AROUND (Thurston) 3'42"

The tune from the mirror mov, yes. I love the riffs, the lyrics are essentially identical for each verse/chorus (one word changes for the verses). This is one of the all-out fuzzy Jet Set rock type of numbers on here...SCREECH. "Sleepin around, sleepin around / What will the neighbours say? / Sleepin around, all over town / What will the neighbours say? / What you did was wrong / What you did good is gone / Nothing you do is right / Always ends up in a fight"

05. WHAT A WASTE (Kim) 3'33"

Starts off kinda like "New Hampshire", one chord and a steady beat. But Kim's vocals take it somewhere totally different, she sounds GREAT on this record overall. A different kind of voice for her, or maybe I'm just not used to hearing her sing prettier songs recently. Kind of her "Golden Blue" voice, but less subdued. Lee plays a melody line along w/ her vocals. The chorus is just kinda quick and there, like some of the other refrains on the album. Swishy noise sounds in the background. Lookin' forward to hearing this on one of the finest shows ever, Gilmore Girls. (Yes, I'm serious!) :D

"Private signals lead me to you
A sublime spectacular dud
Safe and sound from shattered confusion
Get the picture, yes it's clear as mud"

06. JAMS RUN FREE (Kim) 3'52"


Jagged brain, indeed. Slow, but upbeat, pretty-ish guitar melodies, etc. "I love the way you move / I hope it's not too late for me". Extremely cool instrumental section at the end (actually, none of these songs are lacking instrumentally, great shit goin' on).

07. RATS (Lee) 4'24"

Still not sure how to describe this. Cool bass/drums groove layered in guitar noise, that you'd never expect to hear Lee's voice over. Has a semi-acoustic pre-chorus, then a 2-chord "Disappearer"-esque chorus that really soars...yeh, I'm not very good at this review thing. Nice tune, though! "When the rats run riot / And the screen door slams / When the trees grow quiet / Nothing but cats and cans / When the breeze says 'try it' / But you can hardly see / When your love has died / And you rat on me / I see your eyes in the half light / I see the number on your wall / Endless strange things I see at night / You don't see anything at all / Shine a light into your soul / City streets so freezing cold / City shadows mark the route / When they let the rats out"

08. TURQUOISE BOY (Kim) 6'14"


Loooove this one. Slow, dreamy, yes...mostly instrumental, Kim sings a few verses in this real 'french pop' type voice. Lee's does these hypnotic cascading lead things over a sea of arpeggios, and it just takes off from there. Great riffage throughout....

09. LIGHTS OUT (Thurston) 3'32"

A very slow, subdued, low tune. I think I hear Kim very softly in the chorus...not sure what to say about this one, will be curious to see what others think. Has kind of a "Disconnection Notice" vibe at one point, but the vocal sections are mostly pretty low... "She scans the room for a star to consume / When eye contact is made I suggest son, you fix your grave / Cuz it's lights out for you / Lights out for you / There's not a hell of a lot you can do / It's lights out for you"

10. THE NEUTRAL (Kim) 4'09"


More dreaminess, more great Kim vocals w/ that Golden Blue voice. Has kind of a "Nursey" chorus (or "Stonesy"?). "He's not a dreamer or a schemer / Running away from you / He's not a singer, an entertainer / With no follow thru..."

11. PINK STEAM (Thurston) 6'58"


Hot shit, coming thru! Fuckin' killer sweet jams, amazing instrumental intro, no vocals til 5 minutes in, great Thurston voice, delivery, fuck yeah! Love it! Definitely one of the highlights of the record.

12. OR (Thurston) 3'30"

I never heard Thurston's solo version of this, but I really like the SY version. It has that pulsating beat and lots of ambient guitar tapping, a really nice vibe to end the record.

"The plan is to go to D.C. and hang out
Go see girls rock
How long's the tour?
What time you guys playin'?
Where you going next?
What comes first
The music
Or
The words?"

Overall, I'm really digging this record, especially after multiple listens. Sorry my review style has gone downhill over the years, but I think people will, for the most part, be pretty excited about this one once they have a chance to digest it. Some questionable lyrics, some familiar riffs, but more importantly, some GREAT songs, and some great jams. You keep me comin' home again...

Yummy......I love dreamy.

Wow!!! Thanks Chris. That is a great review. Now I really cant wait anymore.

Dreamy :)

Does anybody know if promo/advance copies of the album will be going out to radio stations (particularly college stations)???
I would love to debut some of the Rather Ripped songs on my show!

sounds cool :) i love sonic youth's dreamy stuf :D thanks... now just damn leak it! :D

Whoa, thanks a lot Chris!

I was kind off dubious about this album but yeah this does sound good. It's true that u can't really judge them by their previous album that'd be totally unfair, considering how good it is.

i am so desperate :(

What were the 'leftover' titles from the early performances of these tunes? Helen Lundberg? Anything else?

hey Chris, do you have any idea if they are using new tunings?

thanks for the review...

CHRIS!!!

Are Helen Lundeberg or Eye Liner (from the Flywheel performace) on the new album with a different title? I doubt it, but just thought I'd ask.

I'd need to hear the Flywheel gig, can somebody direct me towards it?

No idea on tunings etc yet...

K I found the Flywheel stuff...neither "Helen" nor "Eyeliner" appear in any form on RR as far as I can tell.

WOW -- this solo version of "OR" is a mere shadow of the full band version, I would've been pretty surprised had I heard the solo take first...the album version is tremendous.

Bonus Track of Rather Ripped.

Helen Lundeberg (International Bonus Track)
Eyeliner (Japan & UK Bonus Track)
Do you believe in rapture? <Psychedelic Mix> (Japan Only)

This information was found on the site of Universal-Music-Japan.
http://www.universal-music.co.jp/u-p.../uicf1075.html

Thanks SKSC, welcome to the board... are you Japanese? :)

i am supprised how short the songs are :( ... on Nurse there are only 2 songs bellow 5 minutes, on Rather Ripped there are only 2 songs above 5 minutes :(

P.S.: i updated the first post with some of chris lawrences facts :)

so helen lundberg is the bonustrack of all editions? would be cool, 13 new songs without having to buy an expensive imported copy.

That's funny, Helen Lundeberg & Eyeliner were the two from the flywheel that I liked less, bodes well for the album that they seem to have been thinking along the same lines, at least it does for me!

thanks Chris!!!

that's what I thought about pink steam as well, when i heard it for first time from that thustson gig. can't wait to hear pink steam on album, must be great tune.

yeah, not very typical song timing. something like 9 - 15min. sonic youth noise jamming seems to be missing there.

yeah, only 2 songs over 5 minutes
I was expecting at least one over 10 minutes
oh well

Thanks Chris. In a way, I'm very happy to hear that.

How come some of u guys heard songs from the album are u critics?

Flywheel gig.

Chris Lawrence sucks dick for the band.

Chris: one more question...

Since you've heard the Flywheel "Do You Believe in Rapture?", how different is it on the album? I noticed some kind of beat in the b/g during the radio interview...just wondering if Lee does any counter-melodies, etc...

man so lucky to get to listen to the new record already! I can't wait for this one, of course every 2 years i get excited around april for the new SY record (;

I'm wondering if they should've called this record "Jams Run Free" -- it really grows on you, and the nuances of the guitar tones and song structure takes a few listens to fully appreciate...I'm finding the record as a whole is gaining its own identity, and I just really, really like it more and more.

Also, this is the first time in a while they've given us 14 vocal tracks from one session/era (including the bonus tracks -- usually they're instrumentals), it's a nice change...

BTW, the "uneven treadwear" thing on the radio version of "Rapture" is the radio dude, not Lee. Lee doesn't sing on the song, unless he pops up on that alternate mix. He doesn't do spoken word about marijuana over the intro of "Reena", either.

well, for me it is hard to believe that "uneven treadwear" isn't lee... its just the lee's voice and typical style of him reading poetry. the volume is too loud compared to the radio guy later in the program, but also maybe too loud to be a part of a track... its a really misterious thing dude :D