Thurston Moore-Trees Outside The Academy (2007)

March 19, 2026

Artist: Thurston Moore

Title: Trees Outside The Academy

Label: Ecstatic Peace!

Format: CD

Catalog Number: E# 91c

Year of Release: 2007

Country and Year of Edition: US 2007 Digipak

Sell Price: $3.86

Sell Date: 3/13/26

Condition: VG+/VG+

Discogs Last Sold:1/14/26 NM/VG $9.35

Low: $1.00

Median: $4.33

Average: $5.21

High: $13.21

Current low price: $3.00 NM/NM

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 35

Have/Want: 897/60

Where Sold: Toronto, ON, Canada

Time It Took To Sell: 15 years

Where and When Bought: Etheria NYC on Ave A New $11.99 or so

Gwiz-gau Grade: B+

Sad To See It Go: No

Trees Outside The Academy was an album I looked forward to when I got it and yet somehow it was an eternal "for further review" release. Now that that day has come, I'm not sure exactly why. At the time I was excited to hear that Thurston had decided to issue a "real" album of new songs. I was a big fan of Psychic Hearts and after that it even the Christgau A's didn't overcome the fact that I was chasing an auditory nostalgic I was never going to find in whatever new Sonic Youth releases came out. Thurston's free noise stuff was so awash in overkill that I no longer felt a completest need to hear each and every squeal and squonk at $10-20 a pop. I made an about face with Trees Outside The Academy and bought the CD new off the wall on Ave. A at Etheria. Yet, old habits established in the naughty aughties reigned supreme and I don't think this got more than a single start to finish listen in it's day, if that.

Still, Trees Outside The Academy carried a certain peripheral weight of an album that I THOUGHT should be good, perhaps excellent. Now that I've given it a few plays in a compressed time frame before shipping it, I know the album well enough to have a few thoughts. The first is the the violin all over the record. Samara Lubelski is a name you see all over the place in the modern "Downtown NYC/Out/SY Infludenced" world of the past quarter century and that is her on approimately half the tracks. She may be the best thing about the album.

However, that makes for a double edge sword in terms of "rocking." For a Thurston back to songs record, there is very little rocking there was there was on Psychic Hearts or a good post-Goo Sonic Youth Thurston sung track. That means it ain't an A record no matter what the publicists say. Just as I type this the CD player is reminding me that yes there is "Wonderful Witches + Language Meanies" that is just that. It stood out for me on the second go round and yet I forgot about it. Does this make it the best song of the record?

The album closes with 13 year old Thurston doing some sort of skit on a tape recorder. A description. A sound. A repeated exclaimation.

"There!"

FOR FURTHER REVIEW:

Thurston Moore-Demolished Thoughts (2011)

Thurston Moore @ Knockdown Center, Queens, NY 3/30/25