The Thurston Moore Band played The Sinclair – 8/2
It’s been rough going for a Sonic Youth fan since 2011. The band’s indefinite hiatus in the wake of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon’s separation has gradually revealed itself to be a permanent dissolution, much to our collective disappointment. Although 2009’s The Eternal was a solid record to go out on, the simultaneous dissolution of one of alternative rock’s great bands and power couples can’t help but feel like a story with a downer ending. Thankfully, though, there has been an upside to all this. Time apart has given the former Youths time to delve into a diverse and rewarding body of solo work. Lee Ranaldo has pursued his inner Neil Young with The Dust, Steve Shelley’s spent time in the studio and on the road with Sun Kil Moon (as well as multiple ex-bandmates), Kim has continued pushing the envelope with her noise/drone project Body/Head, and Thurston has only pushed further toward peak-Thurstonism with Chelsea Light Moving and, now, The Thurston Moore Band.
Last year’s The Best Day, recorded with Moore’s current touring lineup, offers an excellent late-career overview of his strengths, ranging from punk-y noise rockers to dreamy slow-burn jams chock-full of crystalline Murray Street guitar interplay. Much like last October’s show with this same band – at this same venue in fact – Moore was focused largely on this new batch of songs Sunday night. The familiarity of the material and the setting, however, offered an interesting perspective on the growth of the band itself.
Moore has a history of surrounding himself with quality collaborators outside of Sonic Youth, and this crew is no exception. Familiar face Shelley handles percussion, Debbie Googe of the legendary My Bloody Valentine fills out the rhythm section and James Sedwards acts as Moore’s foil on guitar. In their time touring and recording together in the past year, the foursome has become an increasingly cohesive unit. They seemed more comfortable warping and extending these songs the second time around, locking into hypnotic instrumental grooves that were more full-band efforts than Moore showcases. Watching Moore thrash away on one of his battered, overhauled Jazzmasters will be a treat in any context, but to see him forge ahead with this particularly strong set of compatriots is particularly satisfying.
On top of a great set from Moore and company, openers Chain & The Gang proved a good enough reason for coming out on their own. Fronted by ex-Nation of Ulysses vocalist Ian Svenonius, the band donned matching pinstripe suits and churned out groovy, retro rock’n’roll with a Marxist political bent. That combination sounds absurd on paper, but Svenonius’ deadpan sense of humor and fantastically amusing stage presence makes the production endlessly entertaining. Between the howls, the high-kicks and the ventures out into the crowd, he took his roots in punk showmanship and applied them to something completely different with aplomb. The band kept it steely eyed and straight to Svenonius’ theatrics, but the combination was effective. An unorthodox way to round out this bill, but a blast regardless.
