Sonic Youth – New Hampshire : Where eras collide
by Niki N. Phaser on Jun.28, 2009, under Non-Single Masterpieces
Sonic Youth are not the kind of band you first hear of through a video you see on MTV. Therefore, the whole concept of the single is quite irrelevant to them. Another thing one might state about this band is that their work could be, with few exceptions, divided into two categories, eras, whatever: the crazy, extremely experimental one with unique impossible to reproduce tunnings and the more accessible one, which you don’t have to be a snob to appreciate. New Hampshire, a track from Sonic Nurse (2004) contains the best of both worlds. There are plenty of weird tunnings in it, but they are played with fingers, not hardware. It’s quite a melodic song, despite being filled with layers and layers of guitars and their subtle effects. The vocals are carefully laid on the music, which is not something that happens too often with Sonic Youth records. Lyrically, it’s as confusing and puzzling as they can get. B.B. King gets mentioned at one point and also some New Hampshire boys, but, let’s be honest, no one listens to Sonic Youth for their lyrics. It’s the things they do with that instrument of the devil, named electric guitar, that capture us.
