When Kim Gordon initially debuted her new Body / Head noise guitar duo alongside longtime friend Bill Nace with a bunch of low-key gigs at the end of last year, the performances were predominantly instrumental, with the duo playing against back-projected films. In the wake of a self-titled EP earlier this year, this considerably anticipated debut album ‘Coming Apart’s documents considerable progression in the duo’s approach since then, with many of the ten (all vocal) tracks collected here almost resembling actual songs. Given the total absence of drums, and that all of the compositions have been recorded in a single take with Gordon’s and Nace’s guitars then being panned respectively left and right in the mix, there’s a far more loose and free-flowing aesthetic here that often feels miles away from Sonic Youth, with Gordon’s stream of consciousness, almost free associative lyrics calling to mind echoes of Patti Smith at points. A sense of dark, brooding atmosphere and emotional catharsis also hangs heavily over much of the material here.
It certainly isn’t hard to read perhaps too much into track titles like ‘Last Mistress’ as Gordon’s vocals build in intensity into yelps and tics against a relentless, almost obsessively circling guitar figure and a warm bleed of drones, the entire track almost resembling an open wound as it seethes with little respite in the tension levels. Elsewhere, ‘Abstract’s arguably makes the themes of separation even more explicit, with Gordon intoning the phrase “I can only think of you in the abstract†over and over again, mantra-like against a gathering storm of ebbing guitar embers and droning bass chords. The theme of femininity and female archetypes also recurs repeatedly here, whether as lover, housewife or killer (see ‘Murderess’), with ‘Aint’s seeing Gordon and Nace deconstructing Nina Simone’s ‘Ain’t Got No, I Got Life’ into a nihilistic six minute descent into detuned guitar noise that sees Simone’s original lyrics “I’ve got my arms / I’ve got my sex / I’ve got my freedom†transposed into a far more empty and bleak setting. Indeed, it’s easily one of the angriest moments here, but like the rest of this album, the sense of rage feels contained and kept below the surface, rather than ever really exploding. While ‘Coming Apart’s is likely to delight those who felt that Sonic Youth weren’t really going far ‘out there’ enough during the last stages of their lifespan, it’s also a curiously accessible, almost lulling listen at times.
