Lee Ranaldo And The Dust - Last Night On Earth

When bands break up, there’s normally one member who goes on to make it , whilst the others are left to the dregs of reality telly. N*Sync must be fuming since Justin lost the noodle hair and made the big time. This isn’t the case with Sonic Youth. Since splitting, both Kim and Thurston have gone on to successfully do their own thing, and it looks like original co-founder and guitarist Lee Ranaldo is following suite. His new band, The Dust also includes Sonic Youth’s drummer, Steve Shelley.

‘Last Night On Earth’ is filled with guitar licks that manage to sound ferocious and friendly at the same time, marrying a slightly avant-garde persuasion and tight focused songwriting with something instantly warming. Albums like this are wonderful because they show a separate facet to a musician, and the view here largely consists of sprawling, dizzying hills of pop-tinged melody, charged with a dark lyrical undertone.