The Eternal isn’t a new direction for Sonic Youth, but who cares? The songs are great. They’ve got the accessibility of the songs on “Rather Ripped,” but combined with some easily digestible, noisy feedback. There’s some vocal interplay on some of the tracks as well; a great idea that should have been used more. It’s unfortunately ironic, given the following infidelity scandal that would dissolve Sonic Youth.

At the very least, Sonic Youth have distinguishable guitar tones that are all their own, setting any work they do apart from anyone else’s. The Eternal is a great addition to their discography, and I hope we eventually get more.