The latest solo record from Lee Ranaldo is a more traditional album than you’d expect. Electric Trim thoroughly explores all of the ideas it puts forward and Ranaldo doesn’t take any half measures, plunging deep into the songs he creates. Throughout Electric Trim there are really strong contrasts within the songs; having a dark and dirty backing to flip to something very melodic and clean. It’s a trick used several times throughout the album and works every time.

Electric Trim opens with ’Moroccan Mountains’ which best encapsulates the album. It’s a seven-minute brooding mini epic which has all the elements of Ranaldo’s signature songwriting. It starts off like one of Ranaldo’s spoken work pieces and behind it there’s loads of subtle fuzz and feedback creating tense foundations. It then breaks for the chorus line “It’s time to tell you what to do, it’s time to tell you what I’m looking for” which is sung in the vein of Michael Stipe. The song then climaxes and into strings and snippets of bird songs.

The expectations for a Lee Ranaldo release were always going to be high. Sonic Youth were boundary pushing pioneers of alternative rock. Now Ranaldo seems to want to push into deep but nonetheless traditional songwriting. Much of the album favours acoustic guitars over fuzzy electrics. I really like the balance of it on Electric Trim, he’s always been a brilliant guitarist and when he does deliver on some fuzzy feedback it’s like a wink back to his past career.

When the balance is right it really works. ‘Last Looks’, which features Sharon Van Etten, balances all the elements which make Ranaldo great in one. The song builds and evolves, it flirts with being heavy but never goes full whack. The acoustic progression is a well suited backing for the verses which are spoken word. When Ranaldo does sing properly it’s basic and suits his range very well.

What lets down Electric Trim is its vocals and lyrics. Musically it’s fantastic, but the vocals only do so much and they do become a bit of a problem further down the line. This doesn’t so much spoil the album but it does let it down. The vocal melodies aren’t anything particularly special and there are a few moments lyrically that miss the mark. Title track ‘Electric Trim’ features the line “Are you scared of a woman’s love? Are you frightened of a man’s love?” in the chorus doesn’t work for me. What does work, is when he realises this and balances it out with spoken word. Ranaldo has a very strong, rich voice that sounds great but, perhaps, not when pushed vocally.

When Ranaldo does play to his strengths the album is fantastic. ‘Electric Trim’ features a corker of a guitar solo and throughout the album there are many great guitar breaks. Whilst there may be a few misses vocally Electric Trim is still a solid album from a solid musician. It may not have the experimentation of Sonic Youth but we wouldn’t want an album of someone trying to recapture former glory.

Chris Middleton

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