Thurston Moore
Trees Outside the Academy
Ecstatic Peace

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Excellent songs have almost always held up guitarist Thurston Moore's noisy squalls when he's playing with Sonic Youth. But Moore's latest solo album, Trees Outside the Academy, puts the focus on his own songs in a way he hasn't done since his 1995 solo debut Psychic Hearts. Most of Moore's subsequent solo releases have been excursions into avant-garde improv, but Trees is a far mellower affair. That's most evident on string-laden acoustic numbers like "The Shape Is a Trance" or "Silver>Blue." Even James Blunt fans could probably get behind the gentle "Honest James," though its weary refrain -- "Come back, honest James" -- probably shouldn't be taken as a plea to the U.K. crooner. Still, this is a Moore album, so you don't leave without a little ear-splitting medicine to go with the melodic sugar. Instrumental "American Coffin" veers from droning feedback to fragile piano. Chugging rockers like the solo-filled title track or percussive "Off Work" aren't that different from some of Moore's recent work with Sonic Youth. As much as Moore loves noise, what he really loves is sound itself. On "Trees," the most striking aspect is the granular sonic detail of every instrument, every effect. Even if that means -- as on spoken-word closer "Thurston@13" -- the sound of Moore spraying Lysol disinfectant. Hey, he's an indie-rock icon.

-- Marc Hogan