Alt-rock band Sonic Youth has laced up its “Dirty Boots” and put a dynamic charge into one very “Kool Thing.”

Like restorers of an old master painting, Sonic Youth has peeled away the sonic varnish on its 1990, first major-label album, “Goo” (Geffen), and reissued it in a double-CD package, “Goo – Deluxe Edition.”

Fifteen years after its original debut, “Goo” remains an accessible, powerful counterpoint to canned, radio-friendly pop.

Yet, bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon, guitarist/vocalist Thurston Moore, guitarist/vocalist Lee Ranaldo and drummer Steve Shelley (guitarist Jim O’Rourke joined the group in 2000) never quite felt completely satisfied with the initial final result.

“I don’t think any of us are super happy with those mixes,” Ranaldo said in a telephone interview. “We feel that this remaster really made them much, much nicer than they were the first time around.”

“Goo – Deluxe Edition” sharpens the fierce edge of the original play list.

With the “Goo” remaster behind it, the band looks forward to its next project: a new studio album in mid-2006.

– Chuck Myers, Knight Ridder Newspapers