Sonic Youth has begun recording its next Geffen studio album at Sear Sound Studio in New York, where the group put such prior albums as "Sister" and "Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star" to tape.

According to the band's official Web site, among the tunes recorded so far are "Pink Steam," "Do You Believe in Rapture?," "Or" and "Sleepin Around." The as-yet-untitled album is due for release sometime this year.

As previously reported, Sonic Youth is recording without the aid of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who had been part of the band on stage and in the studio since 2002's "Murray Street."

"Some of it seems to be an extension of the last couple of records, but some hearkens forward into territory and also back to earlier, more dissonant and atonal stuff we've done," guitarist Lee Ranaldo told Billboard.com in October of the new material. "There's definitely some rocking songs and also some sound piece-y kind of things that are pretty interesting as well."

Also in the Sonic Youth pipeline for the first part of the year are reissues of the band's 1982 self-titled EP, the peculiar 1988 ?The Whitey Album? released under the name Ciccone Youth and guitarist Thurston Moore's 1995 solo set ?Psychic Hearts.?