The sexiest, spookiest bop of 2024, so far, is a four-minute list recited by a 70-year-old getting ready for vacation. Seriously. Kim Gordon, No Wave punk deity and founder of Sonic Youth, lists “Advil, black jeans, blue jeans, cardigan, purse, passport…” in her famously deadpan drone over dissonant guitars, eerie synth (that recalls the theme song from Yellowjackets), sick beats, and beeps and blips on “Bye Bye.” “I’m a Man,” her second single off her forthcoming album, The Collective, out March 8, is a blurry, buzzy, anti-incel nightmare. Both singles show that Gordon continues to be as innovative, uncanny, and ultramodern as ever. Instead of trying to recapture the fire of Sonic Youth on her second solo outing—after 2019’s No Home Record—Gordon works again with producer Justin Raisen (Lil Yachty, Charli XCX, Yves Tumor) to blaze her own wild sonic path. Kim Gordon plays at 8 p.m. on March 22 at the Black Cat. blackcatdc.com. $35. —Colleen Kennedy
Kim Gordon, March 22
