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Oct 22, 2013 Lee Ranaldo By JR Moores

Grieving Sonic Youth fans are suffering no dearth of releases to keep their ears occupied while the band rests in (possibly permanent) hiatus. If there is any sense of rivalry between the group’s (ex?)members, the contest seems to be not who can produce the best post-split releases but simply the greatest number. Kim Gordon’s Body/Head have just released a double LP following a couple of lower-key records. Thurston Moore wasted little time transforming his solo backing band into Chelsea Light Moving. Now Lee Ranaldo has swiftly followed up last year’s Between the Times and the Tides, having also bestowed his group with a name: The Dust.

Once more the songs have been written acoustically by Ranaldo before being fleshed out with the aid of Steve Shelley, Alan Licht, and Tim Lüntzel. They’ve done a little more augmenting than the last time around; these tracks are longer, a little looser around the edges, with greater exploitation of the midsection guitar jam. Ranaldo was the Youth’s ex-Deadhead hippy member, and he brings a soothing lightness of touch to his sonic canvas, even when hammering his Fender into submission or giving his amplifier a sudden feedback enema. His axe-duels with Licht are sublime and, given the calibre of The Dust’s musicians, it’s a pity the group aren’t awarded even more room to wig out. Just when they’re about to soar into full psychedelic orbit, they have to rein themselves in to politely back more of Ranaldo’s not-exactly-astounding vocals.

Apart from the bizarre harpsichord on “Late Descent #2” and the brief flamenco lick on “Ambulancer,” the songs here all sound faintly similar. They’re also similarly paced, with at least one cut proving too ploddingly quaint. Still, much of Last Night on Earth merges jangly alt-rock with electric rainstorm skree to characteristically impressive effect. (www.sonicyouth.com/symu/lee/)