Being too rock and roll for the art world, but too artsy and esoteric for the alternative guitar-driven scene of the 1980s and 90s, Gordon has successfully utilised her unique position between these two worlds; wielding the ferocious grit of Courtney Love, alongside the effortlessly blasé vibes of forever it-girl, Chloë Sevigny. What is most remarkable and commendable about Gordon’s place in pop culture, is that she has retained her inherent coolness to date. There is no one out there doing it like Kim Gordon, and her return to music with The Collective proves that she is still the coolest person in music.
2019 saw the release of No Home Record, Kim Gordon’s debut solo release, a brilliant record that switched between genres including industrial, trap, rock and roll, and art punk. Reviewers stated it to include some of the best work of her career; in 2024, it is hard to imagine how such an impact will be made, having Gordon’s return to music and the excitement built up around her greatly bolstering her debut. The Collective not only meets the musical expectations first conjured up by, No Home Record, but utterly demolishes age-old expectations of what it means to be a veteran artist in a world where the next-big-thing is relentlessly commodified.
The Collective opens with, “BYE BYE”, almost an ode to No Home
Record; its thunderous distorted beat calls to mind Mitski’s, “Thursday
Girl, the way it scrapes along the song’s ocean floor. The lyrics list
off the contents of her suitcase, before Gordon waves, “bye bye, bye
bye”. It is as if, “Drunken Butterfly” – one of Gordon’s finest moments
from Sonic Youth’s Dirty – has been ripped apart and put back together
in a haphazard manner: what remains is Gordon’s singular lyricism, that
is still showing remarkable similarities to the work of modernist poets;
her lyrics are evocative yet simple, and eager to challenge the
traditional norms of songwriting. This is best displayed on the second
single of the record, the industrial noise-pop of, “I’m A Man’. Gordon
assumes the role of a man expressing distaste for those who seemingly
put him down just by living. It is a well-executed concept, one that
takes a minute to grasp. What is most apparent about this track, and
most of The Collective, is its repetition, which puts the listener
into a trance-like state. It is in these moments you realise the sheer
deftness at which Kim Gordon operates. Everything is accidental, yet
everything is purposeful. Her eye for her own artistic point of view has
never been sharper.
The rest of the record is an equally thrilling ride. The lo-fi, “The
Candy House” sounds like it could belong within Sonic Youth’s Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star; the squeezed-up noise of, “I
Don’t Miss My Mind”, features beats that bear a resemblance to the more
groove-led moments of Nine Inch Nails’ Year Zero; “The
Believers” throws itself against the wall in a similar vein to the more
metallically ferocious moments of Arca’s Mutant. It is in these moments
that The Collective sings. Gordon pays homage to today’s pop
provocateurs, as well as showing love to her innovative past; “It’s Dark
Inside” references riot girl groups, Pussy Riot and Pussy Galore, the
latter of which Gordon co-formed the side project, Free Kitten with band
member Julia Cafritz.
Ultimately, The Collective feels like Kim Gordon’s tribute to
herself. She is at her best when fully immersing herself in the most
experimental sounds the contemporary landscape has to offer, something
she has always done. Whether Gordon’s initial idea for the record was to
create what Sonic Youth may have sounded like had they been an
industrial band, it is hard to tell; what isn’t difficult to understand,
is the way in which The Collective represents Gordon’s perpetual
dedication to challenging societal norms of sex, age and musical tropes.
I have little doubt that this will be the last we’ll hear from Gordon.
She is as required in music as she always has been.
