Kim Gordon: Play Me
An album review of the fantastic new Kim Gordon record — she keeps getting better, pretty much
Kim Gordon
Play Me
Kim Gordon, under exclusive licence to Matador Records
Thurston Moore was a silly cunt. He ruined his marriage to Kim Gordon by being a fuckwit — AND killed any chance of one of the greatest bands of the last 40 years carrying on, or reuniting. He makes some great music, but gets this weird, free pass also. Fuck him.
The best thing that has happened since he botched everything — is Kim making a set of solo records, finding full voice, really. Of course it was always there, she had many of the highlights (vocally) of so many Sonic Youth records. She was the “Kool Thing” about the group in so many ways. Fashion icon, style queen, reminder that you don’t have to be technically brilliant as a musician to be the best person in the best role in the right group. An influence, a legend.
And her three solo records to date are all great, with 2024’s The Collective really unlocking in her the inner John Cale; by which I mean Cale has not gone gently into his 70s, and now his 80s. And it doesn’t look like Gordon has any plans to either — she is rocking with the younger, and doing it in style.
Play Me is a tad slight on first listens when compared with The Collective, but it’s also still absolutely fantastic.
Producer and multi-instrumentalist Justin Raisen remains the key collaborator here, even recording this in his home studio. He has the right claustrophobic vibes that set Gordon’s voice accordingly. She mumble-whinges in dark, leering monotones about the culture over a mix of industrialised hip-hop beats, and electro-clash runoff. It’s perfect. Dour, sombre, but always performatively so — Play Me is here for neither the good times, nor a long time, but it is absolutely a good time to hear it.
It’s believable to think that Raisen has etched aspects of Gordon’s record collection together for her to create new lyrics across. You could imagine the whole album’s lyrical focus was created on a road-trip, Gordon trying to capture things before they blur past.
I feel like she’s masterful at turning an alleged vocal limitation into something golden:
And there’s just enough evolution every time. She’s never quite repeating herself but has that distinctive quality the fans know and love. She’s also not sounding, musically, like anything she did in Sonic Youth, but is obviously informed by it, so in that sense she joins the likes of Robert Plant and Bryan Ferry as vocalists able to step up and away from a formerly defining band; still recognisable of course, but doing something else — something truly different.
Busy Bee features a welcome Dave Grohl cameo (on drums, best place for him to be). Because it’s largely not about him at all, and you could enjoy the song without the knowledge that he’s pounding real drums across the the top of the machine rhythms. But also, when left to hit the skins, Grohl does it very well. There’s also a nice solidarity there, connection, thinking back to SY and Nirvana and The Year Punk Broke. I’m no huge Grohl fan, nor defender, I’d just rather he cameo with Kim than with Moore.
But, look, mostly this is Kim and Justin and they know what they’re doing.
Basically creating musical short films that are driven by vibe as much as meaning, that feel and flow correctly, but might not actually ‘say’ anything. That’s okay, when it’s so skilfully managed.
I love how she says goodbye to last year with the final song of this album:
And the YouTube comment that says, “it’s unfair how cool she is!”
The song, BYE BYE 25! catalogues the calamity over crashing, chaotic beats that make more sense than any politician right now, or ever.
And you lot know by now I love a short album, one that is absolutely not here to fuck around. We know Kim Gordon will not abide fucking around. That’s why she kicked Thurston to the block. He be thurstin’ and fuck that noise. But this noise? Just 29 minutes of it. Perfectly a mess. Wondrously so.
