Rock N Roll Consciousness

Thurston Moore’s latest finds its pleasure in travel rather than a finite destination. Call it hippie music for nonhippies. Fans of his previous band, Sonic Youth, and bassist Debbie Googe’s former, My Bloody Valentine, should not be disappointed by Rock N Roll Consciousness, an album that wanders far and pleasantly away from Moore’s go-to compositional moves of loud-quiet-loud dynamics and into many slight yet equally thrilling reveals. Moore’s songs have often found their reward in tension and release, but his latest serves as an antithesis, with a relaxed pace that unfolds in many different directions. Despite the more subdued feel, the hypnotic chug and shimmer of guitars still push the volume dial, maximizing the beauty of this thrilling collection of songs. The album’s closer, “Aphrodite,” exhibits Moore’s unrestrained love of guitar noise sandwiched between waves of glittering guitar tones, and proves that the passing of time has done little to diminish the irresistible purity of the guitar innovator’s exuberance and love of sound.