Amarillo Ramp (For Robert Smithson) - Lee Ranaldo

Advantages: Sonic Youth's creativity hasn't left them just yet
Disadvantages: Shame bonus tracks weren't part of the album proper

...Rather Ripped is the, dare I say it, poppier follow-up to Sonic Youth's critically acclaimed duo comprising Murray Street and Sonic Nurse. And it doesn't disappoint; Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo serve up yet more intricate guitar interplay, while Kim Gordon provides agressive vocals and menacing bass alongside Steve Shelley's unfaltering drums. While it's not quite on a par with their best work, it serves as a reminder that Sonic Youth is as relevant today as it was in the early eighties. 1. Reena: one mouthwatering riff and it's like their ordered chaos of unorthodox guitar tuning and eerily cool vocals never went away. A barnstorming opener with powerful drums complementing Moore and Ranaldo's interweaving guitars. Gordon's breathy vocal floats effortlessly over this musical gem. 2. Incinerate: sounding like the roaring inferno... Read review

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Advantages: Track 10 - Be Safe, featuring Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth
Disadvantages: What Disadvantages?

...stopping for breath until the curtain closer, 'Shoot The Poets.' Whereas the first two albums could be accused of having fillers which slowed the energy a little too much in stages, this album is perfectly paced. The lo-fi punk thrashes of The Cribs remain, however they have been polished and tweaked with brilliantly effective subtlety, by producer Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand) to give the band an enhanced, bigger sound overall. The Cribs also take more risks and experiment with their sound a little on this album, which pays great dividends. The prime example of this is on the track, 'Be Safe,' featuring Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth, which combines spoken word verses, about self loathing and all thats wrong with the world today, with an uplifting and anthemic chorus. The contrasts in this track, ie, spoken, downbeat verses with Ranaldo... Read review

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Advantages: Loud, experimental, totally cool
Disadvantages: Not for the pop fan!

...tunings were a means of getting a new and interesting sounds out of the guitar. They also prepared their guitars with tools to get a different sound and have been known to use drum sticks and the like to strike the strings for further effect (which also looks great on stage). The band is made up of (now) husband and wife Thurston Moore (guitar) and Kim Gordon (bass guitar and guitar), Lee Ranaldo (guitar) and Steve Shelley (drums). More recently they've been joined by a 5th member, Jim O'Rourke (various). All the band members have worked on other projects, too many to list all, but Thurston Moore released a solo album and toured the UK last year, Lee Ranaldo has guested on a Cribs track and Kim Gordon led a band in an arty cinema/live music experiment which visited the UK in 2006. Whilst never achieving the mainstream success of the likes... Read review

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