Sonic Youth: Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star

THIS IS SONIC Youth's tenth album in all, bootlegs excluded, and it finds them making a determined and ultimately successful effort not to settle into a groove. Their last album, although entitled Dirty, was their most pristine and polished production to date. The follow-up is a surprisingly scratchy and off-kilter affair; forsaking the wide-screen thrills of 'Sugar Kane' and 'Wish Fulfilment' for a raw, fuzzy-edged production that seems calculated to ruin Butch Vig's reputation as a clean-up merchant.