Sonic Nurse[Enhanced CD]

If all Sonic Youth albums pretty much sound alike, as skeptics grumble, some Sonic Youth albums definitely sound more alike than others. And Sonic Nurse is one of those. Practically Sonic Youth concentrate, the disc manages to sound like a distillation of the band's career and a promise that they can keep doing this forever. Sonic Youth has trimmed away its more direct hooks, while also curbing its artier indulgences. That isn't to say that melody or noise is absent--especially when it's Kim Gordon's turn to rant on cuts such as "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream"--but that these elements are carefully balanced and defer to an overall sound that's richer than ever now that newest member Jim O'Rourke has fully integrated himself into the band's gestalt. The mood may be pastoral and domestic, but often, as on "Peace Attack," it's grounded in an undercurrent of concern. --Keith Harris