The Legendary Kim Gordon Doesn’t Rest on Her (Considerable) Laurels
March 21, 2022
Kim Gordon – Webster Hall – March 18, 2022
Rock royalty suits Kim Gordon. On Friday night at Webster Hall, Gordon made it clear just how deserving she is of legend status, both because of and apart from her Sonic Youth fame. The heartthrob of waifish art kids everywhere, Gordon has, in her solo career, leaned deeply into the experimental rock that catapulted her band to fame in the ’80s and ’90s. And after several other projects, she’s now touring on her first standalone album, No Home Record (2019), a surprisingly transgressive debut for someone who’s been a working artist for nearly four decades. Bill Nace, seated and unhurried, opened the show on Friday. Gordon’s longtime collaborator and other half of their project, Body/Head, he played an immersive and intimate set, pushing the guitar into a fractal-like, limitless state.
Gordon, sporting glittery black cigarette pants and her signature blonde bob, entered to an eruption of cheers from the crowd, a pleasingly age-diverse group that made the case for her staying power. While the instrumentals on No Home jump from industrial noise to spare drum machine to the familiar scuzzy guitar of Sonic fame, Gordon’s voice reigns. She easily has among the sexiest frayed-edge vocals in modern rock history. How, after years, Gordon manages to hiss and howl on songs like “Don’t Play It” and “Murdered Out” confounds me. It’s reassuring to know that Gordon and her sound—despite a truly spectacular reimagining by her bandmates—remain recognizable and sound so, so damn good.
And yes, if you’re reading this, you must know the news: Gordon and the good ship Sonic have released a new (sort of) album, a five-song LP of unreleased songs from sessions long gone. As the art-punk revival begins anew, there’s no time like the present to remind everyone who laid the groundwork. And Kim Gordon remains proudly at its center. —Rachel Brody | @RachelCBrody
Photos courtesy of Adela Loconte | www.adelaloconte.com
