Better With Age

Dipping into the back catalog, I listened to Sonic Youth's Murray Street, Sonic Nurse, & Rather Ripped today. These LPs are terrific examples of a rock group that not only "ages gracefully," but actually improves immensely. While some may point to Daydream Nation or Evol as the band's seminal works, 21st-century SY surely makes a case otherwise. The band sounds tight but retains the trademark dissonance (in a more controlled form). &, although some hipster-lo-fi-wanna-bes might find it a detriment, the production quality is far superior. Not to mention O'Rourke's handy work on MS & SN injects a fresh dynamic/perspective to a group that had been around for decades.