Cool event last night at the intimate Marlin Room (capacity 500) at Webster Hall with Thurston Moore.
It was a free show presented by Norton Antivirus and Pandora that you had to RSVP for and it featured an open bar – really! The former Sonic Youth guitarist/singer is now living in London and is doing shows supporting the album he put out earlier this year called The Best Day. The album was recorded with a neighbor in his new town – James Sedwards on second guitar, another Brit – Deb Googe on bass, known for her work in My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream and, his old pal from the Sonics – Steve Shelley on drums. All were present last night with the exception of Shelley. The album follows last year’s self-titled effort by Chelsea Light Moving, the first band Thurston Moore formed after the breakup of Sonic Youth which – although there wasn’t any kind of formal announcement – now looks like a one-off. This new band may have some legs as Googe is an excellent counterpart to Shelley in the rhythm section and Sedwards a fine foil for Moore on guitar with both of them playing some leads and allowing the other to drive the song or add textures.
No band that Thurston is in would fear feedback, distortion, or dissonance and the show (as well as the record) delivered those things but there was no shortage of melodies either best exemplified by The Best Day‘s title track. The highlights of the set were the tunes that allowed the players to stretch out and find some magic in the spaces that opened up. The opening cuts on the album – the 8 and a half minute Speak to the Wild and the 11 minute Forevemore filled that bill perfectly and were very satisfying. Enjoy Sedwards’ bangs of doom and Thurston’s Charlie Brown tongue in the picture gallery…
