Reviewed onSaturday December 5
From his string of solo albums to the quasi-solo record Chelsea Light Moving – much less soundtracking your teenage years as a part of Sonic Youth – Thurston Moore’s distinctive sound arrives anew and yet familiar in his latest incarnation, The Best Day. To tour the album, Moore, together with Sonic Youth bandmate Steve Shelley on drums, My Bloody Valentine bassist Debbie Googe and guitarist James Sedwards, took to a cordoned-off Metro Theatre for a surprisingly intimate gig.
Joining them on the tour were Melbourne four-piece Gold Class, who crafted a pulsing energy out of growling guitar and fluid percussion flecked with ’80s new wave in frontman Adam Curley’s vocals. Dressed all in white, Curley deadpanned and howled over their full-bodied post-punk, before snaking over the barrier and into a sparse yet thoughtful crowd at the end of their set.
Carrying their leader’s established sound of intricate yet disparate melodies, the full Thurston Moore Band built this higher still thanks to an incredibly tight rhythm section and mirrored guitar work from the fierce-looking Sedwards. Darkly hypnotic songs such as ‘Forevermore’ and ‘Speak To The Wild’ were given a much more sinister edge than their recorded versions. Swirling dual guitars met with smouldering bass to create rising, soaring soundscapes, which just as easily fell flat to crawl and chug through sonic debris.
The crowd was also treated to new material from a new album with the working title Rock And Roll Consciousness – that is, as Moore quipped, if they “can’t find a name that’s more pretentious first”. Here, swaying, delicate guitars manifested into the usual charging racket Moore and co. are known for, before arriving at tracks from his first solo album, 1995’s Psychic Hearts. A welcome treat for an audience eager to hear older material, these songs were also a testing experience for some as the night ended with an extended version of ‘Ono Soul’ featuring a fevered and jarring breakdown of noise that had people plugging their ears with their fingers.
While it wasn’t ideal seeing just two of the four onstage, it was a treat enough to see one half of Sonic Youth – and flanked by the sheer intensity of Googe and the unnerving stare of Sedwards, it made for a tight and memorable set.
