text: rather ripped rather ripped is the 14th studio album by the american experimental rock band sonic youth , released on june 13 , 2006 by geffen records . it is the band 's first album after the departure of multi - instrumentalist jim o 'rourke , who joined the group as a fifth member in 1999 . unlike its immediate predecessors , the album was produced by john agnello and recorded at sear sound in new york city , the same studio where the band 's 1994 album experimental jet set , trash and no star was recorded . it also completed sonic youth 's contract with geffen , which released the band 's previous eight records . rather ripped is generally considered one of the band 's most accessible albums , featuring an abundance of concise and catchy songs that deal with melancholic topics about adultery , sexual frustration and infidelity . upon release , the album peaked at no. 71 on the us billboard 200 chart and no. 64 on the uk albums chart . the album 's only single , " incinerate " , was released in 2006 , alongside an accompanying music video by french director and writer claire denis . rather ripped received very positive reviews and was ranked at no. 12 in the village voice 's 2006 pazz & jop critics ' poll . journalists generally praised the vocal delivery of singer and bassist kim gordon and the album 's simpler and cleaner melodies . background and recording rather ripped is the follow - up to sonic youth 's 2004 album sonic nurse and the band 's first record after the departure of multi - instrumentalist jim o 'rourke , who joined the group as a fifth member in 1999 . according to guitarist lee ranaldo , o 'rourke left the band to pursue film work and other recording projects . his departure affected the sound of rather ripped , with singer and guitarist thurston moore stating that the new record " is just a far more straight up rock and roll album " , in contrast to the " darker , twisted , complex quality " of o 'rourke 's contributions . moore also explained that he decided to write simpler songs " for everybody to plug into immediately " . the album 's working titles were sonic life and do you believe in rapture ? the name " rather ripped " came from a berkeley , california record store that later moved to pittsburgh , pennsylvania . unlike its immediate predecessors , which were recorded at the band 's own echo canyon studio in lower manhattan , rather ripped was recorded at sear sound in new york city ( the same studio where their 1994 album experimental jet set , trash and no star was recorded ) , from december 2005 to january 2006 . the album was quickly produced and much of the material was not reworked due to the band 's limited time in the studio . during the recording sessions , moore 's gear included two fender jazzmasters and a fender princeton . ranaldo , on the other hand , played a gibson les paul guitar for half of the album and used his fender telecaster deluxe , " jazzmaster copy - made " by saul koll , and modified fender jazzmaster with for the remaining tracks . guitars were directly plugged into the mixer with no guitar amplifier in the signal chain . the band chose john agnello as the album 's engineer due to his work with don fleming on albums by screaming trees in the early 1990s . he was also recommended by fellow musician j mascis of dinosaur jr . , who had been working with agnello for years . additional work was done in early 2006 at echo canyon , as well as j mascis 's studio in amherst , massachusetts . the album was mastered by greg calbi at sterling sound in new york city in march 2006 . music and lyrics rather ripped is generally considered one of the band 's most accessible albums , featuring an abundance of concise and catchy melodies . moore described it as " a super song record " that contains " rockers and ballads " . in addition , seven of the album 's 12 tracks have a duration of less than four minutes , a feature that is uncommon in previous sonic youth releases . the album generally favors guitar textures over feedback or noise , which typically characterized the band 's earlier works . dave heaton of popmatters remarked that the guitars on rather ripped are joined together to form a vibrant and mysterious sound , stating that " it often feels like sonic youth are taking all the instrumental tricks they 've learned over the years and putting them in the service of building a lasting landscape of guitar sounds , one that reverberates with the sounds of the past but also feels eternally youthful " . lyrically , rather ripped deals with melancholic topics about adultery , sexual frustration and infidelity . in the opening track , " reena " , whose working title was " " , singer and bassist kim gordon is involved in a secondary relationship with a woman . lead single " incinerate " is built on a conventional love - as - fire metaphor , while " what a waste " attributes sexual lust . " pink steam " , which is the longest track of the album , features a lengthy instrumental part that was described as " gorgeously windswept and violently romantic " . its title was taken from a book by san francisco author dodie bellamy . the song " do you believe in rapture ? " is a political reflection on christians in the office , while " rats " , which is the only song on the album written by ranaldo , was described as a " fulfilling ghost - narrative " . the album ends with the semi - acoustic ballad " or " , which starts with strip - club imagery and ends with moore recounting various interview - like questions such as " what comes first ? the music or the words ? " release rather ripped was released on june 13 , 2006 and completed sonic youth 's contract with major label geffen records , which also released the band 's previous eight albums . the uk edition of the album includes two outtakes , " helen lundeberg " and " " , which were previously released as a 7 " single on the band 's own label , sonic youth records . to promote the album , the band embarked on a tour across the united states , starting at new york 's famed cbgb on june 13 , 2006 , where the band had not performed since 1992 , and ending at the bank of america pavilion in boston on september 3 , 2006 . bassist mark ibold , formerly of the indie rock band pavement , joined the band as part of the touring group . upon release , rather ripped peaked at no. 71 on the us billboard 200 chart and no. 64 on the uk albums chart . the album also charted in other countries , including australia , belgium , finland , france and norway . the song " incinerate " was released as a single in france and australia in 2006 . additionally , five music videos , one for " incinerate " and four for " jams run free " , were directed by french director and writer claire denis . the video for " incinerate " is a performance of the band that was recorded at le nouveau casino in paris prior to their 2006 tour in support of the album , while the others are set in an apartment and repeat images of cats , roofing tiles and tv antennas . the videos were shot with a consumer - grade digital video camera and feature a dissolving image resolution and fluctuating color palette . critical reception rather ripped received generally very positive reviews from critics . popmatters editor dave heaton felt that the album was a graceful and elegant way to end sonic youth 's unique relationship with geffen , describing it as a " cohesive story about a band seeking the best way to take the reckless , brave spirits of free jazz , punk , and experimental music , and generate them within the confines of traditional rock song structure " . he also praised moore 's lyrics , stating that " his beat - style poetry is especially evocative , and especially terse — a quality that fits well with an album that musically seems to be doing much the same , communicating a lot with a little " . similarly , dave simpson of the guardian felt that the band reinvented themselves with poppier songs , calling rather ripped " an extraordinary state of affairs in sonic youth 's 25th year " . writing for rolling stone , rob sheffield highlighted moore 's guitar playing for giving the album " a sense of emotional urgency " and considered " incinerate " and " pink steam " some of the album 's highlights . gordon 's vocal delivery was widely praised , with ben ratliff of the new york times comparing it favorably to the velvet underground singer and collaborator nico . prominent music critic robert christgau also remarked that gordon sounds " breathlessly girlish " despite being 53 at the time , and that both she and moore " evoke visions of dalliance , displacement , recrimination , and salvation that never become unequivocally literal " . sheffield concluded that the album features her first worthwhile songs in a decade . steve hochman of los angeles times credited the album 's catchy melodies for being smartly and effectively handled , commenting that " it almost makes you wonder what would have happened if television and peter frampton had worked together " . tom sinclair of entertainment weekly wrote that , although the band " can still knock out a noisy punk stomper when the mood strikes " like on the track " around " , the cleaner and quieter melodies are the ones that " really rip up your emotions " . slant 's jimmy newlin stated similar pros , noting that " quiet is the new loud " , and felt that the band 's shift towards romantic poignancy was " a welcome growth as the band advances well into its second decade of existence " . other reviews were less enthusiastic . spin editor joe gross criticized rather ripped for its lack of expansive songs , stating that the album " is about three- or four - minute songcraft — never the highlight of their résumé , even when [ gordon ] lends her singular rasp " . brandon of pitchfork media felt that the second half of the album was weaker than the first and criticized the lyrics of the closer " or " . allmusic reviewer heather phares remarked that the band 's playing can occasionally outpace their songwriting , but nevertheless rather ripped as " a solidly good album " that " shows that sonic youth is still in a comfortable yet creative groove , not a rut " . in february 2007 , rather ripped was ranked at no. 12 in the village voice 's 2006 pazz & jop critics ' poll . additionally , rolling stone editors ranked the album third on their top 50 albums of 2006 list , while pitchfork ranked it 43rd on a similar list . track listing all songs written and composed by sonic youth . personnel credits are adapted from the album 's liner notes . charts