Thurston Moore is one of the more recognizable names in alternative rock, basically the ‘cool’ version of Dave Grohl. For the uninitiated, Moore formed the seminal Sonic Youth, considered by many to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Shit, Sonic Youth even have a record, 1988’s ‘Daydream Nation’, preserved in the National Library of Congress.

Until 2011, Sonic Youth consistently released album after album of stuff that varied from excellent (‘Rather Ripped’) to average (‘Simon Werner A Disparu’) but they never really lost the spark or intrigue that made them such an amazing band to be a fan of. However, in 2011, news surfaced of a break up between Thurston Moore and his wife/creative partner Kim Gordon, and the band fell into a concerning twilight zone.

In the wake of Sonic Youth’s hiatus, Moore has been a busy man, culminating in the release of a new solo album, entitled The Best Day. Here’s what we learnt from the record:

Some Side Projects Are Better Than Others

Since the news of Gordon and Moore’s breakup, Sonic Youth has fragmented into various side projects. Gordon began her excellent new band Body/Head, Lee Ranaldo has his solo thing, and Moore has begun work with bands such as the art rock group Chelsea Light Moving and black metal band Twilight.

Most of these projects are pretty interesting, but in the case of Moore’s solo work, the result isn’t overtly spectacular. Coming from one of the most revered icons of indie rock, most were expecting something slightly altered from Moore’s work in Sonic Youth. Isn’t that the point of a side-project? To try something new that wouldn’t work in your ordinary band? Take Dave Rennick, frontman for Sydney indie-rockers Dappled Cities. He’s got a new solo project called And* that experiments in poppy synth rollercoaster rides, a world away from what made him a household name. Whereas Gordon and Moore stretch themselves in other bands, on ‘The Best Day’, Moore ends up doing a bad imitation of himself from 20 years ago.

Long Songs Are A Pain In The Ass

The Best Day features a lot of really long songs. At eight tracks, five come in at over, or nearly six minutes, one of which stretches for twelve.

It’s understandable that Moore has shown himself capable of holding listener’s attention spans for longer than the conventional pop song, (‘Sugar Kane’, ‘The Sprawl’). But The Best Day tests patience frequently, and with nothing riveting to uncover, Moore does a better job of boring than exhilarating.

Strumming A Guitar For Minutes On End Isn’t As Cool As Thurston Moore Thinks It Is

Probably the biggest gripe with ‘The Best Day’ is Moore’s interest in doing exactly what a 5th grader waiting for their guitar teacher does: strumming random chords irreverently. However, whereas the 5th grader stops after a few minutes, Moore wastes whole songs, namely ‘Vocabularies’ and ‘Tape’. This creates a solid interest in the listener to find that skip button.

Thurston Moore Waits Too Long to Show He Can Still Write Good Songs

Despite mucking around for the majority of the record, Thurston Moore still proves at a few points why he was once SPIN’s favourite guitarist.

Opener ‘Speak to the Wild’ is a fantastic lesson in how to make a guitar speak volumes, but it isn’t until the finale until he make good on the promises of this opening. With the 10 minute swansongs of ‘Grace Lake’ and ‘Germs Burn’, he creates soundscapes of gently chugging guitars and thudding drums, all propelled by his completely unique voice. They throwback to the severely underrated ‘Thousand Leaves’ and ‘Murray Street’.

They’re sincerely New York bohemia, culled from the ashes from a bin-fire in Hell’s Kitchen, and rebranded into a spindly, crunchy well of noise.

Releasing An Album Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should

Whilst The Best Day isn’t terrible, it’s not enjoyable either, and suffers from being a clouded effort.

It’s not clear why Moore decided to release this album, or what he’s specifically trying to say. Thurston Moore has been around for a long time, and released many, many records, some of them great some of them not so.

He’s always going to release albums, and people will always buy them because he’s one of the coolest people who has existed. But on The Best Day, Moore showcases something grey and bland, one of his most passé efforts to date.

The Best Day is out now locally via Remote Control Records

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