Rock - Always timely, never trendy, indie stalwarts Sonic Youth have been cranking out influential albums since the early 80s and they show no signs of stopping. On Eternal, their 16th studio album (but probably 200th release in some format or another), SY stay comfortably within the parameters established on their earlier 21st century LPs, eschewing the noise experiments that characterize their more avant-garde work and focusing on their songcraft, which is as sharp as ever.

An early review in The Wire observes, "They are ensconced in their own corner of the universe, their current inspirations (including painter Yves Klein, poet Gregory Corso, Kevin Ayers and Neu!) effortlessly absorbed and translated into a strong, concise set of songs, brilliantly played. The Goo-era garage moves of 'Sacred Trickster,' the fretscape flurries of album highlight 'Anti-Orgasm' and the blurred roadside snapshot of 'Malibu Gas Station' in particular indicate a group exploring a vernacular they pioneered and perfected decades ago." The Eternal is, then, an apt title: while not particularly innovative, the album makes the most of the group's rich history, and it is with the best intentions that we posit that any of these songs would sound at home one or another previous album. Their influence can be heard in the music of dozens of other bands, but no one does Sonic Youth quite like Sonic Youth.

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