THURSTON MOORE”Psychic Hearts” DGC* * 1/2It’s not...

THURSTON MOORE

“Psychic Hearts”

DGC

* * 1/2

It’s not as if Sonic Youth’s co-leader has used his first solo album to purge some foreign or unfulfilled music from his system. This is clearly marked Sonics terrain: edgy and astringent, stomping and austere New York rock with Velvets and punk bloodlines.

Nor does Moore take the opportunity to go wild, at least until the closing “Elegy for All the Dead Rock Stars,” which takes 19 minutes to build from reflective strumming to angry riffing to grief-stricken freakout.

Moore yelps out his vignettes (frequently couched in rock-centric imagery) of misfits, discontent and decadence over rock-combo basics augmented by static, squeals and electro-chatter.

The overall effect is that of isolating one of the creative channels that feeds into the whole of Sonic Youth. Interesting, but really, what’s the point?

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