Thurston Moore on the chances of a Sonic Youth reunion

Thurston Moore has opened up about the chances of a Sonic Youth reunion in a new interview.

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The former frontman of the New York band, which featured his ex-wife Kim Gordon, guitarist Lee Ranaldo and drummer Steve Shelley, went their separate ways in 2011 after 30 years together. The band split following Moore’s acrimonious divorce from Gordon.

In a new interview with Billboard, Moore has now seemingly closed down any hopes of a reunion of the beloved band in the future.

“We covered so much territory that I don’t feel like it was a story left on untold. I think it really had a nice trajectory, and it certainly doesn’t feel unfinished to me,” he told the outlet.

Back in 2014, Moore discussed his split with Gordon, saying: “I’ll always have that experience of sadness that a separation brings.”

Addressing the separation at the time, he said: “I’ve had some life issues.” He added: “In your 40s and 50s things can change in ways that upset the order of things that have been established over 25 years-plus of marriage. It’s really distressing. You have to work through it, it’s very personal and I don’t really talk about it so much. It’s extremely… it’s just something I work through in my own world.”

The year prior to this, Gordon also opened up about the reasons behind her split from Moore, saying that it ended because of a “mid-life crisis” and a “starstruck woman”. Moore refused to address these comments directly at the time, saying: “I’d rather not. We don’t have stipulations with each other about who we talk to or what we say, we’re our own bosses. It’s not about people having a right to know, it’s how much you want to publicise it. I choose not to, besides what we speak about here.”

Moore also addressed a potential comeback in a 2023 interview with the New York Times and was similarly pessimistic, saying: “I’d rather be like The Beatles and never get back together.” He did, however, acknowledge then that reuniting Sonic Youth could “be really worthwhile”.

On his relationship with Gordon he added: “We’re adults. We can find our peace in this kind of situation. We’re very connected in our family with my daughter and my nieces and everything. It’s not like some hate-fest or anything.”

Speaking to NME in 2019, Kim Gordon opened up about the music industry and the legacy of Sonic Youth.

On discussing fakery in music, she said: “Well, there’s a certain aspect to the irreverence to sound that I like. You can just take what you need. You know, take a reverb effect off this record and put it on this song over here. That’s kind of junky in a way and I like that. But mostly I don’t pay attention to the music industry. I should.

“…It feels a lot apart from the world of when Sonic Youth was together and playing. One would pay more attention to that, although I didn’t actually read Rolling Stone or any of those.”

On hearing Sonic Youth’s sound in other bands, Gordon added: “Sometimes, actually. Once during this photo shoot they were playing a playlist that started with Deerhunter and went into all this other music. At one point I thought, ‘Is Sonic Youth’ and then ‘Is this My Bloody Valentine?’ It was this band DIIV, and they sounded kind of interesting.”

Back in March, Gordon teamed up with Kim Deal to perform Sonic Youth‘s ‘Little Trouble Girl’. The moment, which marked their first time ever performing live together, took place on the new Netflix talk show Everybody’s Live, hosted by John Mulaney.

Gordon was the first to perform, singing her song ‘Bye Bye’ taken from her 2024 solo album ‘The Collective‘. Deal then took to the stage to play her own track ‘Nobody Loves You More’ – the title track from her debut solo album also released last year.

Then, the pair joined forces to play the Sonic Youth track ‘Little Trouble Girl’, which Deal contributed vocals to on the band’s 1995 LP ‘Washing Machine’. The track is the only time Gordon and Deal have ever collaborated. Though Deal appeared in the song’s music video, she never joined the band to play it live before they broke up in 2011.

Meanwhile in February, Sonic Youth and Thurston Moore released ‘Hold That Tiger’, a rare live recording from 1987 that includes an introduction from the late Steve Albini, who introduced the band onstage before their performance as well as their four back-to-back Ramones live covers.

The post Thurston Moore on the chances of a Sonic Youth reunion appeared first on NME.