Kim Gordon is fearless and fearful on “No Home Record”

The ex-first lady of NY noise’s first solo album mixes punk adventurism with pop experimentation

Kim Gordon releases her first solo album in nearly forty years of rocking out. And after one listen, any worries about ageing cool artist trying too hard to stay relevant will melt away in its avant-garde lava. For Kim is still ice cold, venomous and defiantly unconventional.

After her marriage with Thurston Moore dissolved and Sonic Youth, punk rock’s last standing royalty, ceased to exist, she seemed to voluntarily seek to alienate anyone expecting her previous band’s mix of strange artsiness and good old rock’n’roll. Her two collaborative albums as Body/Mind were experimental to the point of being nearly impenetrable. They were followed by a long silence.

No Home Record is yet another difficult record, but is still immensely listenable. The beats are occasionally simply made of shards of noise, and many passages are drowned in even more noise. But there are pretty melodies lurking in there if you take the time to unwrap them, and Kim’s husky sing/speaking is simply magnetic.

It is thrilling to listen to this album, having heard Thurston’s rather prolific solo outings. His music has revelled in fluid guitarscapes and folksy eclecticism, but it is still grounded in straight rock. Kim veers more towards harsh, boundary-pushing adventurism, barely tempering it with accessible music. It’s like seeing Sonic Youth’s magic potion distilled to its two secret ingredients. Maybe listening to these two sonic explorers’ work back to back will be like reliving some of the old magic.