By Lucas Arthur, First Year Geography
For anyone familiar with the grunge and alternative rock scenes of the 90s, Kim Gordon needs no introduction.
The former frontwoman of Sonic Youth pioneered the band’s gritty, violently distorted sound alongside her husband Thurston Moore, until their divorce caused the band to split in 2011. After a largely uninterrupted hiatus, she returns with nine tracks of bottled lightning; far from a washed-up debut, the 66-year-old has created something which treads the cutting edge of rock.
‘Sketch Artist’ sets the precedent. Gordon’s hoarse whisper floats above pounding bass and erratic breakbeats, akin to Death Grips in its raw aggression and abuse of synthesisers. Similarly, ‘Don’t Play it Back’ features choking, urgent vocals, set to a bass-heavy dance beat so blown out it sounds like it’s playing in the next room over.
On ‘Air BnB’, a tight bass hook guides us through biting feedback and atonal vocals, while the lines '47-inch flat TV/ Lounging, Daybed/ American idea' remind us of Gordon’s longstanding cynicism toward American consumer-culture. The work of co-producer Justin Raisen, whose former clients include Charlie XCX and Yves Tumor, is most evident on ‘Paprika Pony’: the track wouldn’t sound out of place on a Missy Elliot LP, with a swaggering trap beat and sexually charged vocals.
However, it’s on the heavier cuts where the album really shines: ‘Murdered Out’ has all the components of a modern grunge anthem, with thrashing guitars and a heavy kick lending themselves perfectly to Gordon's brooding lyrics. The unassumingly named ‘Cookie Butter’ starts slow, with Gordon’s stream of consciousness lyrics gaining momentum like a runaway train before exploding into frantic industrial noise. ‘Hungry Baby’ doesn’t relent, with the vocals and jaunty bassline barely audible over roaring static.
Crucially, the project presents the full range of Gordon’s talents, honed over 38 years at the forefront of avant-garde rock. ‘Earthquake’ has her sounding almost tuneful, with her haunting delivery forming part of a tapestry of guitar feedback and ambient, shimmering noise, somewhat similar to the drawn-out instrumentals that featured in Sonic Youth’s earlier work. ‘Get Yr Life Back’ is dark, industrial and trance-like. Her winding free verse causes the hairs on your arms to twitch with ASMR-like receptiveness, the mic likely in contact with her lips throughout.
The album contains the sort of violent energy that manifests in riots and bar fights
This album won't be for everyone. At times, amid searing noise and relentless bass, it can seem almost difficult to endure, but the challenge gives way to a thrilling listening experience overall. Consistently powerful, raw and deliberate, it contains the sort of violent energy that manifests in riots and bar fights, alongside elements of modern hip-hop and electronica, all arranged in a way which is mature, tasteful and refined. Her lyrics are intentionally ambiguous, but convey themes of lost love, cultural decline and a certain brand of nihilism derived from the gritty Los Angeles and New York music scenes from which she emerged.
Releasing a debut album of this calibre cements Gordon as one of the most prominent and accomplished counter-cultural musicians of all time – we can only hope there’s more to follow.
