Murray Street

Named for the Ground Zero block where these art-punk vets still keep their NYC studio, LP No. 16 is a near-perfect, guitar-shaped phoenix. With multitasking new member Jim O’Rourke adding electronics and even more guitar, Sonic Youth find a balance — between formlessness and structure, melody and cacophony — that’s eluded them for a while. The result is a reverie of rock geologies from jam to glam and beyond. Nostalgic, but also soul-kissing the future.