SONIC YOUTH - Battery Park, NYC July 4th 2008 LP

Label: Matador

With Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008, Sonic Youth continue to reissue some of their rarer releases (which also include 2012's re-release of Smart Bar: Chicago 1985 and 2016's Spinhead Sessions). Originally a bonus LP for fans who pre-ordered the band's final album, 2009's The Eternal, Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008 boasts not only rock-solid performances but an unusual set list. Over the course of its ten tracks, the album covers a wide swath of Sonic Youth's career; even fans who attended many of the band's shows may have never heard some of these songs in concert.

Dirty's snarling "100%" and Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star's slinky "Bull in the Heather" aren't the biggest hits from their days as alt-rock icons, yet they represent that era of their career perfectly without overshadowing Rather Ripped's "Jams Run Free" or Confusion Is Sex's "World Looks Red." All in all, Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008 is a testament to the cohesiveness of Sonic Youth's music as well as their skills as a live band.