Sonic Youth is new to me.

Not, like, amazingly new. The first album I picked up, though, was 1998’s A Thousand Leaves, on the strength of “Sunday,” a single the local alternative radio station played a sum total of twice before ignoring it. Everyone knows who Sonic Youth is, of course, but the Sonic Youth I’m acquainted with has always been middle-aged. They’ve also been very hit and miss, forgiven their mistakes only on the basis of a lot of cred they’ve acquired from much earlier releases.

Well, most of the time. NYC Ghosts And Flowers, as far as I can tell, wasn’t forgiven by anyone. It put me off Sonic Youth for a spell, so I missed out on Murray Street and was prepared to give Sonic Nurse a pass as well. But the latest album from Sonic Youth easily outdoes A Thousand Leaves and is the first album I’ve heard from them that honestly has no real weak spots, save maybe for the somewhat-bland “New Hampshire.”

My favourite SY track used to be “Wildflower Soul,” a nine-minute rollercoaster summary of everything I thought the band did well on A Thousand Leaves. What’s great about “Sonic Nurse” is that not only does “Dripping Dream” beat that landmark handily, but the rest of the album has equally brilliant, more focused compositions as well; the languid “I Love You Golden Blue,” the bright “Peace Attack,” the caustic “Kim Gordom And The Arthur Doyle Hand Cream” (renamed from “Mariah Carey And The Arthur Doyle Hand Cream” for legal issues).