Sonic musings; plus, the Hope Anchor and a pair of fests
By BOB GULLA | July 18, 2006
EMBRACING THE SPIRIT OF THE: ’80S The Hope Anchor. |
Name-dropping has never been a favorite pastime on this page, but something came up in an interview I had with Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore last week that I wanted to pass along. The chat with Moore, chiefly for a national monthly, was designed to help promote Sonic Youth’s cool new album Rather Ripped and their (gasp!) 25th year together. Moore and the band had set up camp in Los Angeles, where they were doing a handful of dates with Pearl Jam. I caught him on his cell phone as he was buying drinks and cigarettes for a friend.The first few minutes of our talk had to do with the band’s impressive longevity, and the fact that they’ve waved the alt-rock flag consistently and emphatically for their entire career. “We never got too much into the competitive sweepstakes of rock,” he said. “For us, ambition means being true to ourselves, and we’ve never had any sort of flash success which would have put us up on a popular pedestal.”
Then we discussed the alternative culture, and how his band has become something of an ambassador for that ethos. “We never underestimate the culture,” he said. “But our thing is a little outside the margins and that’s the way it’s always been. The culture’s not doing big business right now and I’m not too impressed by it. It’s nice to know that it’s happening for some bands. There’s awareness about our band as an icon rather than a band familiar to anyone on a big level. Most people know that we’re kind of weird sounding, but they generally leave us alone. We never feel forced to come in off the fringe.”
When he found out where I was calling from, the talk turned to the Providence scene. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Providence has that cool scene, with Ben at Armageddon, and Ben at Load. That scene has always done good things. We have a pretty good profile as a band coming out of that kind of scene.” When I elaborated on the complications of our local scene and the non-commercial nature of much of the fringe-rock business in town, he recognized the ramifications. “The noise underground has its own mainstream. I don’t think any of those bands have ambitions toward being accepted by huge audiences. Not that it’s a bad thing to strive for that acceptance. For a scene to survive there has to be some kind of co-existence or not at all. It really helps to have both sides getting it done.”
Truth spoken from the fringes.
The Hope Anchor
Terry Linehan’s new band, the Hope Anchor, combines amply experienced musicians hailing from bands such as Mother Jefferson and Blizzard of ’78 — Paul “Pip” Everett, Eric Fontana, Jack McKenna, and Paul Myers — with songs that celebrate the hopeful and hopeless characters of our beloved state. Linehan, an occasional guest axeman with Green Day and one of our most celebrated guitarists, says the band is “not trying to be retro but it recreates the spirit of the ’80s using modern tones and textures.” The Hope Anchor will make its debut this Saturday (the 22nd) at the Century Lounge. THE CURTAIN SOCIETY supports and ELI “PAPERBOY” REED AND THE TRUE LOVES open. Call 401.751.2255.
Related:
Taking flight, Boston in Austin, Dropping by with an old friend, More 
- Taking flight
“It’s that classic New England heavy thinking man’s rock,” is how Sonic Youth guitarist and Northampton resident Thurston Moore puts it. The Boston hit list: Ten local bands you need to see. By Matt Ashare More Thurston Moore: What a Sonic Youth guitarist does in Northampton. By Matt Ashare Black Helicopter, "Buick Electra" (mp3)
- Boston in Austin
There were 26 bands from Massachusetts in Austin last week to play the South by Southwest music conference Black Helicopter, "Buick Electra" (mp3)
- Dropping by with an old friend
Even before there were festivals like All Tomorrow’s Parties to formalize the concept, Sonic Youth have always given off a curatorial air.
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Video: Thurston Moore live at the MFA
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No surprise when you consider that Mould, along with Sonic Youth and the Pixies, was among the genre’s most influential architects as the leader of Hüsker Dü.
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Although composer JOHN CAGE is best known for 4'33" of silence, he could raise a ruckus when the mood struck.
- Night work
Thurston Moore, Eddie Vedder, and Kevin Drew don’t play in the kind of rock bands that privilege streamlined sonics over the expression of individual creative wills.
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It’s 11 am on a Thursday, and Andy Moor is having his first coffee just a few doors down from the American Repertory Theatre’s Loeb Drama Center, the site that will be home to one of his most ambitious projects yet. The Ex, "Weapons for El Salvador" (mp3)
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They were, by definition, misfits.
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Topics:
New England Music News
, Entertainment, Music, Pop and Rock Music, More
, Entertainment, Music, Pop and Rock Music, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, Alternative and Indie Rock, Green Day, Thurston Moore, Jackie O'Brien, Paul Myers, Less
