Kim Gordon “Play Me” 2026, Matador Records. We caught Kim Gordon’s set last night at Summerfest – my first time seeing her solo; I did see Sonic Youth back in 1991 opening for Neil Young and Social Distortion (the “Smell the Horse” tour: great lineup, terrible sound as the noise rock/grunge/hard rock/punk mashup tour was done no favors with the now-demolished Bradley’s Center concrete echo chamber). She’s an icon for sure; still cool AF with close to zero crowd banter – mostly just “thank you’s” – and an air of disinterest. The bulk of her set were tracks from her third solo release Play Me and since this is my first time sitting down for a listen, I wasn’t familiar with any of the songs. Honestly, if this wasn’t Kim Gordon I wouldn’t own the LP or gone to see the show. I absolutely appreciate her artistry and creativity but  experimental trip-hop with trap vocals is not really my jam. My top track is “Busy Bee,” co-written by Dave Grohl (he plays drums on the album but sadly did not play this song at the show last night) – it’s way beatier than most the album and also features sped-up dialogue between Gordon and Julia Cafritz (who was in Pussy Galore with Jon Spencer) from an episode of MTV Beach House that Gordon and Cafritz guest-hosted in the 1990s. The title track “Play Me” is also pretty good, as is the lead single “Not Today.” I’m not a fan of autotune at all and while I understand its inclusion both on the LP and at the show last night, it still gives me pain (“Black Out” in particular). Finally of note is the last track “ByeBye25” which is “a reworking of the single “Bye Bye” from her 2024 album The Collective, with updated lyrics based on words flagged [censored] by the second Trump administration. It was accompanied with a black-and-white music video showing Gordon walking through a construction site. Proceeds from the single and associated T-shirt went to Noise for Now, a non-profit organization based on reproductive rights.” (Wiki)