Sonic Youth has trimmed away its more direct hooks, while also curbing its artier indulgences. That isn't to say that melody or noise is absent--especially when it's Kim Gordon's turn to rant on cuts such as "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream"--but that these elements are carefully balanced and defer to an overall sound that's richer than ever now that newest member Jim O'Rourke has fully integrated himself into the band's gestalt.