Reliving Youth leaves a pleasing sensation

Spencer Patterson

Friday, June 13, 2003 | 9:43 a.m.

Artist: Sonic Youth.

Title: "A Thousand Leaves."

Year of release: 1998 (Geffen).

Track list: "Contre Le Sexisme," "Sunday," "Female Mechanic Now on Duty," "Wildflower Soul," "Hoarfrost," "French Tickler," "Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)," "Karen Koltrane," "The Ineffable Me," "Snare, Girl," "Heather Angel."

Ask five Sonic Youth fans to name their favorite album in the band's catalog, and you'll likely get five different answers.

Some swear by the early years, which produced such fierce sonic assaults as 1983's "Confusion is Sex."

Many prefer the band's mid-to-late '80s period, one that saw Sonic Youth release twin indie rock classics "Sister" and "Daydream Nation."

And still others will tell you 1995's "Washing Machine" is the most coherent musical statement the New York City-based experimentalists have ever recorded.

But the best phase of Sonic Youth's career might just be its most overlooked: the current one. Beginning with 1998's "A Thousand Leaves," the Youth's latest three albums offer proof that, unlike to so many other bands that have been around for 20 years, this one actually sounds better with age.

Fronted by the husband-wife team of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, Sonic Youth has pushed the boundaries of avant-garde rock since coming together in 1981.

On recent work, that mission has taken the band in a more introspective, somewhat quieter direction, one that gives listeners a better chance to appreciate Sonic Youth's many instrumental intricacies.

The nine-minute centerpiece, "Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)" showcases the interplay between guitarists Moore and Lee Ranaldo, as the pair create a progression of textures over the steady groove laid down by Gordon's bass lines and the drumming of Steve Shelley.

(If you like that combination, wait until you hear the Youth in concert, supplemented by newest member Jim O'Rourke, Chicago's legendary indie multi-instrumentalist).

Ranaldo's vocal contributions, "Hoarfrost" and "Karen Koltrane," continue his long-standing tradition of placing one or two the best tracks on each Sonic Youth album. His borderline spoken-word style sounds almost creepy next to the sweet singing of Moore.

Just because the Youth have mellowed doesn't mean you should plan on spinning this CD at dinner parties. Clangy bursts of guitar and bass careen messily into one another now and again, and Gordon's growling vocals are as tough as ever. She delivers them forcefully on three of the CD's finest tracks: "Female Mechanic Now on Duty," "French Tickler" and "The Ineffable Me."

If you're new to Sonic Youth, "A Thousand Leaves" is as good a place as any to begin digging in. And if you lost track of the band somewhere around 1990, you might be surprised when you discover what you've been missing.