Sonic Youth Rather Ripped

4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n excellent record, one of the strongest to emerge from Sonic Youth's amazing late period. Thurston Moore dominates....The guitars ring out with a sense of emotional urgency..."
Ranked #3 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "[A] light, simple, terse, almost-pop album."
Ranked #22 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "[T]heir 20th release extends the most comfortable hot streak in rock history, locating a few more nooks in a self-invented sound that no one else inhabits."
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]heir most mature album to date, with songs taking centre stage and guitar squall used more selectively."
"RATHER RIPPED is the sound of a band no longer setting their distortion pedals on stun, and, as a result, the best songs are as low-key as a small town on Sunday morning."
"RATHER RIPPED turns out to be filled with delicate, pretty songs devoid of squall and doused in mellow melody."
"While it seems improbably that Sonic Youth have fully mellowed, RATHER RIPPED finds them at home with some old fashioned rock verities."
"[A] clean collection of smart guitar songs that are low on the trademark-feedback tsunamis of old but high on skewed pop melodies of a Fugazi bent..."
4 stars out of 5 -- "RATHER RIPPED is a concise collection of melodious, and pretty straightforward songs: light of touch, compact in construction, sweet on the ear."