Sonic Youth have joined the Matador Records ranks. The band had been saying they were returning to their independent roots for their 16th full-length so the move isn’t entirely shocking. Read the press release after the jump.

While Sonic Youth’s status as one of the more innovative and influential bands of the past 30 years needs little explanation, the group’s most recent recordings for Geffen — 2006’s Rather Ripped being their final for the label — rank amongst the current decade’s best.

For Matador, the opportunity to work in partnership with a group who’ve made such an profound impact on our roster/hometown/collective consciousness was one to jump at. Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley will commence recording the new Sonic Youth LP/CD this autumn and we look forward to sharing further details in the very near future.

Please check out sonicyouth.com for details about their many recent and upcoming pursuits, including the travelling museum exhibition Sonic Youth Etc.: Sensational Fix, which focuses on the multidisciplinary activities of the band since 1981, and the recently self-released CD Andre Side Af Sonic Youth.