Rocktrospectiva: The Stylish Magnificent "Rather Ripped" Turns 20

Released on 13 June 2006, "Rather Ripped" was the 14th., studio album by US rock band Sonic Youth,  it was the band's first album since 1998's A Thousand Leaves to feature their classic quartet formation, following the departure of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who had joined as a fifth member in 1999. Unlike its immediate predecessors, the album was produced by John Agnello and recorded at Sear Sound in New York City, the same studio where the band's 1994 album, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star, was recorded. It also completed Sonic Youth's contract with Geffen, which released the band's previous eight records.

The record was considered to be one of Sonic Youth's most accessible albums, featuring an abundance of concise songs dealing with melancholic topics such as adultery, sexual frustration, and infidelity. Upon its release, the album peaked at number 71 on the US Billboard 200 and number 64 on the UK Albums Chart. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its simpler, cleaner melodies and the vocal delivery of singer and bassist Kim Gordon. Its only single, "Incinerate", was released in 2006, alongside an accompanying music video directed by French director and writer Claire Denis.

The follow-up to Sonic Youth's 2004 album Sonic Nurse and the band's first record after the departure of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who joined the group as a fifth member in 1999. According to guitarist Lee Ranaldo, O'Rourke left the band to pursue film work and other recording projects. His departure affected the sound of Rather Ripped, with singer and guitarist Thurston Moore stating that the new record "is just a far more straight up rock and roll album", in contrast to the "darker, twisted, complex quality" of O'Rourke's contributions. Partially inspired by the streamlined approach taken by Blondie for their 1978 commercial breakthrough Parallel Lines, Moore decided to write simpler songs "for everybody to plug into immediately." While he conceded Parallel Lines features some "super good" songs, he was disappointed with the album's poppier style and Mike Chapman's production when it was released. Nevertheless, he recognized that Parallel Lines became Blondie's breakthrough with the general public, and aimed to make Rather Ripped into Sonic Youth's version of Parallel Lines. The album's working titles were "Sonic Life" and "Do You Believe in Rapture?". The name "Rather Ripped" came from a Berkeley, California record store that later moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Unlike its immediate predecessors, which were recorded at the band's own Echo Canyon studio in Lower Manhattan, Rather Ripped was recorded at Sear Sound in New York City from December 2005 to January 2006, where their 1994 album Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star was also recorded. The album was quickly produced and much of the material was not reworked due to the band's limited time in the studio. During the recording sessions, Moore's gear included two Fender Jazzmasters and a Fender Princeton. Ranaldo, on the other hand, played a Gibson Les Paul guitar for half of the album and used his Fender Telecaster Deluxe, a "Jazzmaster copy" made by Saul Koll, and a modified Fender Jazzmaster with humbuckers for the remaining tracks, mainly through a modified Fender Super Reverb. 

Generally considered one of the band's most accessible albums, featuring an abundance of concise and catchy melodies. Moore described it as "a super song record" that contains "rockers and ballads". In addition, seven of the album's 12 tracks have a duration of less than four minutes, a feature that is uncommon in previous Sonic Youth releases. The album generally favors guitar textures over feedback or noise, which typically characterized the band's earlier works. 

Lyrically, Rather Ripped dealed with melancholic topics about adultery, sexual frustration and infidelity. In the opening track, "Reena", whose working title was "Stonesy", singer and bassist Kim Gordon is involved in a secondary relationship with a woman. Lead single "Incinerate" is built on a conventional love-as-fire metaphor, while "What a Waste" attributes sexual lust. "Pink Steam", which is the longest track of the album, features a lengthy instrumental part that was described as "gorgeously windswept and violently romantic". Its title was taken from a book by San Francisco author Dodie Bellamy. The song "Do You Believe in Rapture?" is a political reflection on Christians in the office, while "Rats", which is the only song on the album written by Ranaldo, was described as a "fulfilling ghost-narrative". The album ends with the semi-acoustic ballad "Or", which starts with strip-club imagery and ends with Moore recounting various interview-like questions such as "What comes first? The music or the words?"

Rather Ripped received widespread acclaim from critics praising that the band managed to condense all their expansive musical style into tighter songs "without sacrificing the mercurial structures, subversive lyrical bent and reverence for noise that identify Sonic Youth as Sonic Youth, the album was a graceful and elegant way to end Sonic Youth's unique relationship with Geffen, others felt that the band reinvented themselves with poppier songs, calling Rather Ripped "an extraordinary state of affairs in Sonic Youth's 25th year". 

 

Rather Ripped Track List:  

 

1. Reena 

2. Incinerate

3. Do You Believe In Rapture?

4. Sleepin Around

5. What A Waste

6. Jams Run Free

7. Rats

8. Turquoise Boy

9. Lights Out

10. The Neutral

11. Pink Steam

12. Or