LIVE REVIEW : THURSTON MOORE UK + LEE RANALDO AND THE DUST AT THE GARAGE 21/11/2013

I bought Lee Ranaldo's first LP "Between The Times And The Tides" on the faith of a youtube video of "the lead single" of the album "Off The Wall". None of the songs were as good as this breezy slice of pop bliss but the album was solid and full of well crafted songs. I'd never managed to get into Sonic Youth's experimental sound and was quite surprised to see Ranaldo had opted for a rather classic pop sound for his first LP after the bands break up. A second solo LP, billed this time as "Lee Ranaldo and the Dust"  has just been released and from the few songs I've listened to it seems to be hearkening back to his Sonic Youth days with lenghtier songs featuring multiple parts.

This gig at The Retentless Garage in Islington featured three members of Sonic Youth in its line-up. Lee Ranaldo's band features Steve Shelley on drums and Thurston Moore was the opening act . Billed as Thurston Moore UK, Moore was playing solo with the help of an extra guitar player. The set was made up of 4 or 5 instrumental tracks. I must admit that although there was some nice parts here and there, the whole thing seemed a bit monolithic to me. There was one number announced as "Germs Burns" that was a bit more concise. The gig finished with a really good version of "Psychic Hearts" (with vocals) from Moore's 1995 solo album with Steve Shelley on drums. 

Ranaldo came on stage at 9.30 P.M with his four piece band. The gig relied quite heavily on songs off from the new record. The band opened with "Ambulancer" from their new record during which Ranaldo broke a string and had to keep on singing for a couple bars without a guitar in his hands (to say he looked uncomfortable would be an understatement). Most of the songs were preceded by a short blurb from Ranaldo explaining their origin and meaning. The few songs played from "Between The Times And The Tides"were welcomed like classics by the audience. Apart from a short sequence of bow playing on his guitar, the set was pretty conventional with the songs pretty similar tothe recorded versions. Two coers were plqyed during the set. A really good version of "She Cracked" by The Modern Lovers and "Rock'n'Roll" by the Velvet Underground (that I missed as I had tol eave before the encore). The gig was fine but from where I was standing there was a huge buzz coming from the ceiling each time Steve Shelley hit his bass drum which became a bit grating after a while.