2017’s underrated Rock n Roll Consciousness melded Thurston Moore’s downtown noise-rock core to a positive ray of 60’s experimental sunshine, while last year’s Spirit Counsel pushed past free jazz-inspired boundaries in an elongated yet successful fashion. His newest offering, By the Fire builds upon those recent albums highpoints as well as the artist’s vast musical past.
Moore has kept his core solo record collaborators intact with Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass and backing vocals, James Sedwards on guitar, and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley drumming, but this go round the lineup expanded to include Jon Leidecker aka ‘Wobbly’ (of Negativland) on electronics, as well as Jem Doulton, alternating on drums.
The excellent album kicks off with the chugging/building first single “Hashish” using Moore’s repeating guitar lines around a gritty low end, signaling ominous proceedings while recalling his past SY glory days. The thumping “Cantaloupe” pushes the rebellious poetry inspired lyrics (“Dripping fire music down your back/White gardenias in your eyes”) with a very metallic sound; clean heavy metal licks mixed with stoner rock rumbles result in an intriguing mélange not usually heard from the art rocker.
“Breath” is the first of many selections to stretch out over ten minutes as Moore continues the protest/poetic lyrical tilt around tension-filled push/pull passages that threaten to explode before finally crashing into a wall of guitar cacophony to end. “Siren” is the most serene of the elongated songs as it ambles prettily along, while the nervously twitching and scratching avant-garde instrumental “Venus” closes the record on a hectic/disturbing free jazz vibe.
The almost seventeen-minute “Locomotives” is beast, exploring all levels of what Moore and company do well; rising tension of overlapping guitars, groove rock, poetic passages, driving percussion, freak out blasts of feedback spliced with digital squiggles leading to a glorious climactic finale with doom floating all around the fringes. The blissful comedown of “Dreamers Work” follows and is a much-needed breather before the electronics of Leidecker enter the spotlight for the experimental “They Believe In Love (When They Look At You)”.
With such an expansive back catalog, Moore could have easily rested on his laurels after the end of Sonic Youth; however, he has now released multiple albums that slot in amongst the best of his career. By the Fire is more of the same high-level exploratory art-rock Moore has been producing for the last thirty years. He and his supporting players’ tone and texture remain vibrantly alive, burning through dark times with poetry and passion, proving Thurston Moore still has lots to offer both longtime fans and newcomers with his experimental guitar rock.
