Pioneering alt-noise rockers Sonic Youth return to record stores on Tuesday with their 14th album, "A Thousand Leaves," which sees the band finally achieving one of its chief goals.
The album is the first full-length effort the band has recorded in its own New York studio, which is something Sonic Youth had been shooting for since its inception some 17 years ago.
"We didn't have to worry about the clock. We didn't have to worry about spending a lot of money on a studio that was charging us too much money for what was going on there. That was basically it, and that's all we ever wanted," Sonic guitarist/vocalist Thurston Moore recently told MTV News.
"That was our real ambition since we started was to have a workshop... to be in a clubhouse that we could just go in, you know, like the Monkees had. We knew that could only be our highest ambition. It wasn't like we were going to become superstars or anything, but if we could have that and be able to work in that kind of mode, everything else would just be gravy." [1MB QuickTime]
As we previously reported (see "Thurston Moore Talks About Teaming With Harmony, Macaulay For New Video"), the band recently shot a video for the album's first single, "Sunday," with "Gummo" auteur Harmony Korine and former child star Macaulay Culkin. The band hopes to have that clip finished by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, the band is on the road, and will play Cincinnati on Wednesday and Detroit on Thursday (for a full Sonic Youth itinerary, see "Sonic Youth Preparing To Release 'A Thousand Leaves' As Tour Looms").
The band will also join Radiohead, the Dave Matthews Band, Beck, Pearl Jam, the Wallflowers, R.E.M., the Beastie Boys and others at this summer's Tibetan Freedom Concert, set for June 13 and 14 in Washington, D.C. (see "Wallflowers Added To Tibetan Concert As Daily Line-Ups Announced...").
