Lee Ranaldo – Between the Times & the Tides (2012)

It took me a while to understand the brilliance of Sonic Youth. A couple of first times I was listening to their music, I was too distracted by off-key notes and noise elements to really enjoy their music, but I did always really like their guitar sounds and the general idea of their experimental approach to music. I only truly got interested in the band after listening to some of those later albums that had a more melodic approach, such as Rather Ripped and The Eternal. Those albums led me back to their earlier albums and now I can't even see how I couldn't see the brilliance of Daydream Nation or Goo before. Many of my friends have said the same thing about Sonic Youth as well. If you're one of these people I'm talking about, you should really check out this solo album by one of the founders of Sonic Youth. It's much more straight forward than the Sonic Youth albums, but has similarities in sound. It works as a gateway drug to full-on Sonic Youth.


The melodies on this album are a lot simpler than those found usually on Sonic Youth albums, or even the sounds on Thurston Moore's solo albums. There are, however, some fantastic guitar riffs and solos on this album, which are not too dissimilar from stuff you hear on Sonic Youth albums. All in all, this album is filled with fantastically written melodic rock songs that have a melancholic and dark mood and some amazing guitar sounds.

I had just moved to London when I discovered this album in Rough Trade's record listings. The melancholic and urban feel of the album functioned perfectly as a soundtrack for my adventures in the metropolitan city I now call my home. Something just tells me that an album like this could've never been made by someone who lives in a rural area. The hectic, yet exciting sounds remind me of the rush and loud noises of a big city. It's sometimes heavy and noisy, but always adventurous and offers constant opportunities to explore, much like the life in a metropolis.

The whole album is filled with excellent songs, so I would find it a bit strange to go through them individually praising every single one of them. Instead I'll just recommend to listen to the whole album, because I feel this record works better as a whole than just a sum of it's songs. There is, however, a nice music video for the song Off the Wall that I'll link here. It's psychedelic and not very exciting by its storyline, but it gives a glimpse into how it must be to see Lee Ranaldo live.

Lee Ranaldo is probably more of a guitar player than a singer, but his vocals are still a lot stronger than his band mate Thurston Moore's vocals. Also, Ranaldo is a much more easily approachable of the two. His songs have hit potential and the out-of-tune guitars are used more as a spice in the sounds, as opposed to presenting them as the main dish.

After extensive listening, I may still prefer the best Sonic Youth albums over Lee Ranaldo's solo albums, but this is definitely a good introduction to Sonic Youth's sound world if you're not that convinced by the noise style of their early albums.

Listen to the album on Spotify.