Latter career Sonic Youth, meaning A Thousand Leaves sounds more melodic than their earlier stuff and has less of an attitude. That’s not a bad thing though, because the band has crafted some beautiful stuff past their heyday, and some of it’s on this album.

The Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo tracks are consistently great and invoke a psychedelic feeling that’s new territory for the band and unique to this album (they even named a song “Hits of Sunshine”). The only thing holding this album back are Kim Gordon’s appearances. Very brash, abrasive, upbeat rockers that kill the atmosphere the album is constantly trying to set up. They don’t belong. They’re below her quality standards to begin with, in addition to bringing the overall experience down.

A Thousand Leaves is still great, overall. Moore’s “Sunday,” a gentle, beautiful tribute to his young daughter, and “Wildflower Soul” are gorgeous. Ranaldo’s “Hoarfrost” and “Karen Koltrane” are haunting. A Thousand Leaves is a must-have for any Sonic Youth fan or those into atmospheric rock music.