With the new solo album Demolished Thoughts set for release by Thurston Moore this May, I thought I’d take the opportunity to have a glance back at some of his previous solo work. The track "American Coffin" comes off Trees Outside the Academy (2007), Moore’s second solo album after Psychic Hearts (1995). "American Coffin" captures the noise-anarchy/transcendent-beauty juxtaposition that has been the driving motor of Sonic Youth for twenty odd years. A buzzing, nihilistic drone intro gives way to a hazy piano melody wandering innocently at the edge of the sublime. High points like this are scattered between the pleasant, if not revelatory, alt-punk ditties that Moore can cough up in seemingly endless quantity. A mixed bag, all in all, but the early word on Demolished Thoughts is that the album is a noticeable step forward. A more consistent effort start-to-finish that cements Moore’s reputation as a solo artist. You knew the album would get some buzz based on the starpower involved (Beck served as the producer), but most of the talk surrounding the project is about the music, which is a great sign. Wet your whistle with "American Coffin" and look forward to Demolished Thoughts 5/23.
Oh, and Thurston started up a Twitter, which he apparently runs, dedicated to promoting Demolished Thoughts. So check him fumble around in 21st century social networking technology under the name @demoedthoughts.
Stream "American Coffin"
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