Chelsea Light Moving

Chelsea Light Moving - Chelsea Light Moving
Critic Score
Based on 25 reviews
2013 Ratings: #513 / 1115
User Score
Based on 24 ratings
March 4, 2013 / Release Date
LP / Format
Matador / Label
Indie Rock / Genre
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CRITIC REVIEWS

80
Drowned in Sound

While preserving his natural nonchalant charm, Thurston sounds more vigorous, bellicose, twitchy and forceful than he has in years.

80
musicOMH

There is more than enough quality here to once again establish the eternally youthful Thurston Moore as one of alternative rock’s most vital voices.

80
SPIN

Chelsea Light Moving is an entirely successful test of Moore’s post-breakup mettle. 

80
Consequence of Sound

The band (and, by extension, the album) plays like the menacing Jekyll to Sonic Youth’s Hyde, stewing angrily like the latter band’s bipolar brother on Adderall.

77
Beats Per Minute

In the place of modest, carefully plotted songs, such as those on his recent releases, the tracks on Chelsea Light Moving are thickly poured out, congealing in pools of melodic molasses around the speakers, always on the verge of shorting out whatever power supply is readily available. 

75
A.V. Club

If this is indeed the next stage of Moore’s career rather than just another one-off project, it’s an assured, though sporadically underwhelming, soft launch.

75
Paste

What saves the thing is, well, Moore’s style is so ingrained that to some extent this really will start to sound more natural with time.

70
The 405

A four-piece rock band with his guitar playing and his distinctive voice will obviously sound like Sonic Youth, but this album is at times heavier and less complicated than them, and best of all it has a fire and an energy of its own that makes it well worth hearing.

70
NME

The best thing is that after 30 years of kicking out the jams, he’s still making guitars scream in ecstasy.

70
PopMatters

Everything on Chelsea Light Moving that seems like a callback is really just another element of Moore’s style. This is Thurston Moore. The same artist people have loved for decades, just under a different guise.

70
Tiny Mix Tapes

While the cooperative/collaborative nature isn’t entirely clear, the personalities of Lubelski, Moloney, and Wood poke through and certainly push the music.

68
Pitchfork

The record seems like a conscious attempt for Moore to get back to serious shredding, to move away from introspection and toward the immediate thrill of pummel and screech. 

60
DIY

It's a lively, noisy semi-resurrection, even if 'Alighted' doesn't earn its seven-minute running time quite as well as 'The Sprawl'.

30
No Ripcord

By attempting to give us what we want, and provide reassurance that the Sonic Youth legacy is in safe hands, Moore has somehow managed to make it look weaker and less appealing than it ever was.

RikuNeto
86

Such a great album

Timbo
81

Its good, but could be better based on the clientele.

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Track List

  1. Heavenmetal
  2. Sleeping Where I Fall
  3. Alighted
  4. Empires of Time
  5. Groovy & Linda
  6. Lip
  7. Burroughs
  8. Mohawk
  9. Frank O’Hara Hit
  10. Communist Eyes

Year End Lists

#24/The Fly
#50/Rough Trade
#62/Crack Magazine
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Added on: January 10, 2013