Now in their 250^th year, some might argue that Sonic Youth aren’t quite as vital as they once were. Well, that might be the case to some degree, but that doesn’t really have any bearing whatsoever on the fact that Rather Ripped finds our favourite NYC noisemakers making music far more affecting than most of what you hear these days.

It’s tempting to say that Rather Ripped represents a kinder and gentler Sonic Youth - melodies abound here, Thurston Moore comes close to crooning on "Do You Believe In Rapture", and extended noise making is kept at a minimum - but the themes of emotional isolation, chaos, and rage are still there. They just come within neat and tidy little verse-chorus-verse numbers.

Scaled back to a four-piece with the departure of Jim O’Rourke, Sonic Youth nevertheless maintain the brash aural assault that we’ve all come to know and love on songs like Lee Ranaldo’s "Rats" (one of the finest tracks here) and through the various mid-song squalls (making for the best thing about "Sleeping Around"). The musicianship is there, as strong as ever with Ranaldo and Moore making non-guitar-like sounds come out of their guitars and Shelley remains one of the greatest drummers around. However, if Rather Ripped has a "star", it’s Kim Gordon.

Gordon’s warm voice comes on strong on the opening "Reena", propels the charging "What A Waste" and gets deep into your head on "Turquoise Boy", one of the most laid-back songs the band has done in quite a while. Probably the most effective harmony with her bandmates is on "The Neutral" - where things almost get downright "pretty".

The band still manages to deliver and while I may not be the most objective reviewer (so shoot me - I liked NYC Ghosts And Flowers!), you’d be hard-pressed to not find Rather Ripped a wonderful listen and a comforting affirmation that Sonic Youth are as exhilarating as ever.