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RIYL : Sonic Youth, Lee Ranaldo, Free Kitten

Tracks to listen to: “Detonation” “Speak to the Wild” “Grace Lake”

Thurston Moore is a very celebrated artist among 90s grunge and alternative bands. Known for his work with Sonic Youth, Moore has gone in a different direction with his new album The Best Day. Much like most of his solo career, Moore creates interesting experiments with the songs on the album.

Running at 48 minutes, The album is very experimental in sound. The songs do not exactly fit into the same genre. One song can sound like classic rock and the next could be new wave. The album works like a grab bag in the way that it surprises you and keeps you guessing after every song. The guitar riffs seem to change different pitches and have a wide range from shrill to soothing.

“Detonation” was a personal favorite of mine off of the album. The song gives off an 90s grunge feel to it. The guitar gets more rapid as the song goes on, giving the listener some panic as Moore moves towards the next stanza. That same grunge feeling comes in songs like “Vocabularies” and “The Best Day”. The sound kind of makes me long for that original Sonic Youth sound only because the guitar reminds me of original riffs from the band.

Moore delivers a great guitar performance throughout the album. The value of the guitar parts is what really drives the music forward. Even with a solid backing band, Moore’s guitar really shines and is quite distinct. If you enjoy a very instrumentally driven album The Best Day would be right up your alley.