With its profound influence on such bands as Nirvana and Blur, Sonic Youth has probably done more to spread the gospel of guitar distortion to the general public than any other evangelists. Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, former apprentices of "guitar-symphony" composer Glenn Branca and founding guitarists of Sonic Youth, have constantly fiddled with their tunings and amp settings to create chords and textures unlike any others in pop music. On "Psychic Hearts," Moore continues to explore that interaction between noise and pop. Recorded with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and Half Japanese guitarist Tim Foljahn, "Psychic Hearts" ranges from tightly constructed narrative of the riff-driven title track to a 20-minute instrumental called, "Elegy for all the Dead Rock Stars." If the former song recalls Lou Reed's portrait of an alienated suburban girl in "Rock&Roll," the latter recalls Reed's hypnotic guitar drones on "White Light/White Heat." Moore salutes Yoko Ono as "the queen of noise" on "Ono Soul" and exclaims, "She's crazy, so am I," on "Patti Smith Math Scratch."

Moore is not much of a singer, though he tries to compensate for that by cloaking his vocals in effects and burying them in the mix. He is an exceptional guitarist, however, capable of making the most overworked instrument of his generation sound surprising again. And as he matures as a songwriter, he's making the settings for those inventions more and more interesting. He's still not as melodic a composer or as focused a lyricist as protégé Kurt Cobain or peer Bob Mould, but his guitar work is still pushing the envelope. --Geoffrey Himes