The Monsters of Folk... finally.

Everyone loves a supergroup.

No matter how bad they are (that’s you Velvet Revolver), how maddeningly incredible (nod to the Traveling Wilburys) or just… standard (...Captain Beyond. How much more obscure can I get? Not much.)

Yet, the mere idea of M. Ward, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and Mike Mogis pooling their collective talents and donning the tongue-in-cheek moniker of "Monsters of Folk" is sure to spark some kind of buzz within the indie/folk scene.

The collaborative effort of all four could turn out to be a sun flare of pure creative talent ending in a never ending stream of awesomeness. Or, come September 22, many will find themselves sobbing with their head buried deep within the hands.

I hardly doubt it would be anything short of ethereal.

After a short 2004 tour under the same name, Monsters of Folk toyed with the idea of jump starting the group ever since the tour ended. The earthy, madcap lullabies of the trio have fallen into a semi-obscurity since the tour with only a select few lucky enough to have attended. It's become somewhat of a legend.

With nothing short of a pure aptitude for genius song-writing and mood setting folk, the Monsters of Folk’s album details are meager in comparison to the buzz encapsulating the group. Until then, I snagged this off of YouTube for you to enjoy, weep with joy and yes, you can thank me later, that's why the comment section is there.

(Is "there" a preposition?)

The Eternal

Artist - Sonic Youth
Album - The Eternal
Released - June 9, 2009 (Matador Records)

Battling 25 years of rock atavism and a vast number of musicians relying on the music media to enhance their prowess, Sonic Youth releases their 16th studio album on their largest indie yet.

After releasing four albums on major label Geffen Records, The Eternal finds itself sitting proudly atop Matador Records' to-do list as Sonic Youth still reigns over the world of indie rock as one of its golden idols.

There’s no doubting it: you either love Sonic Youth for what they are or you don’t. Everyone gives that ultimatum but rarely does it ever make sense – “there’s always that shade of grey.” Their music, since its inception, has been raw, evocative and inoculates its fans with an enamored cacophony of noise and prose.

Sonic Youth has weaved and crafted expansive albums following in the poli-rock footsteps of ‘60s rock demigods and all the same have closed in, creating a relentless iris shot of one subtle and dark theme in their lives. Since 1987's Daydream Nation, nearly every album holds the same constant denomination of quality and inspiration.

The band, now pushing a mean age of 51, still has a brutal mean streak; reminiscent of their latter 80s coming-of-age albums. Unveiling nothing new as far as their sound, The Eternal manages to mask its sound with conceptually autumnal lyrics with a vicious stitching.

Bassist Kim Gordon still screeches with an unwavering, and still slightly tone-deaf, emotion still battling with angst present since 1983’s Confusion is Sex. As the oldest member of the band, Gordon’s tumultuous fervor continues to grip the curtains, ripping them off the wall littering the room with shattered pieces of gypsum. Her vocals are as necessary as any other.
Married to lead vocalist Thurston Moore, with whom she has a daughter, Coco, Gordon personifies the “badass mom” stereotype and does so with the non-quandary of what’s more important to her.

The Eternal augurs as a semi-rejuvenated Sonic Youth after releasing themselves from Geffen Records. Often weathered by the idea they have lost their avant-garde quality - which in the some ways they have – their music still burrows deeply and heavily. As stated earlier, they have touched the zenith of what they can accomplish numerous times and have refurbished their lyrical and political competency.

New York’s early ‘80s scene, in my opinion, can be summed up with one word: “pretentious”. The art scene was too cool for the casual viewer and the music scene was awkwardly counter-culture; the stranger the better. Especially the indie scene, starting in the late 1970s through 1987, saw the convergence of musical genres and one of the few times when being indie really stood for something.

With bands ranging from MC5 to the Replacements to Husker Du to Minor Threat, indie punk music was at its peak and even college radio on through the 1990s was a breeding ground for purposely undiscovered students of the indie world. This was back when FM broadcasts littered the airwaves with early Madonna singles and Duran Duran and UK bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain were too cool to release singles.

This was back when “networking” was done with your mom’s van and a landline phone. Sonic Youth’s knowledge and skill factored into what made them successful, unlike younger bands, they possessed the ruse to befriend and work with promoters, journalists and fans. Many bands at the time would look up them as the “parents” of the indie movement, not because they were first, but because they knew what they were doing.

This isn’t Daydream Nation by any measurement, nor should it be. Daydream Nation was only a standard to measure their development and maturation. Albeit groundbreaking, it stood as more of an inspirational piece for the end of hardcore and the beginnings of a new era of rock. The Eternal should be viewed as part of Sonic Youth’s third movement in the opus of their career.

As their 16th album, a sense of harmony gracefully sways within the group. After being a collective entity for nearly 25 years, their inimitable sound accumulates within tracks like Gordon’s Sacred Trickster. Poison Arrow, which for the first time features Gordon, Moore and Lee Ranaldo essentially harmonizing and finds a band maturing in comfort but never forcing it.

Their unorthodox approach to the music, i.e. - complex tunings and timbre alterations, convulses the scaffolding which binds their sound. Although, their music has evolved in the last third of their career into a slightly more standard exoskeleton, SY maintains the exterior but never looses the avant-garde quality of abolishing the obligatory rhythm and standards of the music industry which continues to change.

www.myspace.com/sonicyouth

Cotton Jones

After the disbanding of the misunderstood Page France, principle songwriter Michael Nau decided enough was enough. It was time to step away from the folksy aspect of songwriting, focusing on an evolving sound with Cotton Jones harkening to a soulful, funk influenced plethora of indie/folk originality.

Page France often is misinterpreted with its religious allegories and vivid imagery giving a sense of unwarranted comfort in its unintentional Christian overtones. Although Nau denounces its purpose, he never saw Page France as anything more than what it was.

"This feels like a new leaf to me. I've learned to let the music happen, rather than trying to invent something," says Nau on his record label, Suicide Squeeze’s website, "I'm still sifting through some imaginary thesis, but it makes more sense now."

Maryland-based Cotton Jones (formerly The Cotton Jones Basket Ride, probably shortened for aesthetic reasons) is the re-imagining of where Nau and Whitney McGraw, also formerly of France, can take their music.

After a handful of EPs and one LP, Nau and McGraw waltz through their debut with a viral sound and a sweetened darkness.

Leeching influences from gospel, rock, folk and soul, Cotton Jones transcends the simple interpretation of genre titles. Following many artists of the indie scene, they splinter the standard genre of their music. Creating a sound both progressive and regressive, the inherent atavism of influences gracefully paints a brilliant mural rich in color, lyrical emotion and even some excellent whistling.

More times than not, a comparison between Nau’s vocals and Jim Morrison arise on Paranoid Cocoon, Cotton Jones’ debut LP. This too is unwarranted and according to Nau, he doesn’t even listen to the Doors.

Paranoid Cocoon delves into darker subject matter than France ever dared and find Nau and McGraw writing poetry set to music and vice versa. The intrinsic values of their rhythmic lyrics and the amazed energy of their harmonies craft sagacity of endowment. Tugging on the earth-bound comforts of their lives, the album threads together a blanket of surreal imagery based in reality.

McGraw acts as Nau’s leveling factor both on the album and behind. Less of a leader figure for the duo, McGraw, along with a menagerie of itinerate musicians, add more to the album than just rhythm and a voice. They add personality, which contrary to most music these days, is the largest contributing factor to what makes music memorable.

Cotton Jones may not have the same simple, child-like qualities of Page France, but their matured approach to a soulful folk project wrecks any comparison; vaulting Cotton Jones into a lyrical sphere of would-be influential songwriting which sadly, will be overlooked by the masses.

www.myspace.com/thecottonjonesbasketride