Nostalgia by stealth is a peculiar notion. Whereas acts such as The Police and Genesis can re-form, play their old hits and cheerily wallow in the past, New Yorkers Sonic Youth are seemingly above such frippery, not least as they show no signs of disintegrating after 26 years on the increasingly comfortable cutting edge and an appearance on The Simpsons.

Yet their new material mostly lacks the lustre of their old and while 1998's Daydream Nation, their sprawling seventh album, neglected to reach either the British or American Top 40, its reputation has grown with each passing year.

Sometimes two plus two equals four, and the promise of the entire album in its running order meant three sold-out Roundhouse nights.

Last night, as if forced into the exercise as some kind of punishment, they played Daydream Nation from beginning to end without a word to the audience. Curiously such aloofness served merely to enhance the occasion.

At various points dreamy, narcotic, poppy, jazzy, proggy and hardcore, Daydream Nation remains refreshingly beyond pigeonholing, hence its timelessness. Teen Age Riot rattled along merrily as Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon traded vocals like the married couple they are and Eric's Trip was as conventional as Sonic Youth get.

But the real gems came via the dizzy swirl of Hyperstation, so sternly underpinned by Steve Shelley's drums, and Eliminator Jr, which Gordon screamed in primal fashion as Moore and Lee Ranaldo's cascading guitars duelled.

Immediately afterwards, Ranaldo declared "enough of the old s**t, let's go back to the 21st Century" and, to the relief of all on stage, they played another 45 minutes of more recent material, most notably last year's hypnotic Do You Believe In Rapture?, which served to remind us that Sonic Youth might have a future as well as a past.

• Sonic Youth perform Daydream Nation tonight and tomorrow at the Roundhouse. Information: 0870 389 1846.