Sonicology

Back On It (again)

2011-01-30T10:34:00.000-08:00

When I started this blog, I had alot of time on my hands. The posts have been sporadic lately. But I am determined to finish this out! This has been a much bigger undertaking than I had originally intended. Some song, I really have nothing to say about, and others I have too much to say about. I'm finding a balance between the two, but to me, it doesn't matter when I finish, just as long as I do finish.

For now, enjoy this video:

Renegade Princess

2010-04-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

The second song on the LP NYC Ghosts and Flowers is called "Renegade Princess"

I was never really a fan of this song but I never skipped it when I listened to the album as a whole.

"Renegade Princess" seems to have been born out of another extended jam. The first 1:36 of the song features a slow moving three note arppegiation. This is a typical move for the band. This time, the riff is very smooth and chimey. The band allows the riff to ring out a little. Thurston sings the song as if he is reading off a list of descriptions. His voice is suttle and has a hint of melody. The song picks up in double time from 1:36 until the end. The song becomes more aggressive when both Kim and Thurston began singing lines like "make way for the midnight princess, the renegades fight tonight, the renegades fight for light." I often discount the "jam" aspect of this song because of its structure. I'm pretty sure both parts of the song were potential songs and were merged to make a whole song. Both are different yet flow naturally from one to the other.

This song was written in 1999 and debuted instrumentally at the same time as Free City Rhymes. Both Thurston and Lee used Les Pauls on stage and possibly in the studio. I always thought it was weird they began experimenting with Les Pauls. It didn't look right. Lee also used a 12 string with only 10 strings. The tuning CGDGBB was employed in this tune, along with most of the album.

This song has not been played live since 2000.

Bull In The Heather

2010-04-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

The second song on the LP Experimental jet Set Trash and No Star is called Bull In The Heather.

"Bull In The Heather" is one of Sonic Youth's most recognizable songs because it managed to get quite a bit of airplay during the early/mid-90's. This song is one of the bands most accessible songs and it follows a semi traditional pop formula. As I have mentioned before, Sonic Youth has the ability to make radio friendly mainstream music, they only choose to let it out in small doses.

The first time I ever saw the band live was 8-15-2001. The band was opening for Pearl Jam and my br0ther and I were psyched that Sonic Youth was tapped to be the opening act. Before the show, we were going over what songs SY might play and were really hoping for Bull In The Heather. We got our wish, and it was the first song!! Kinda weird huh?

This song features some really awesome harmonics provided to Lee Renaldo. The harmonics act like the main riff that drives the song. Kinda strange that such a simple riff played with harmonics would become one of the most recognizable pieces in the Sonic Youth catalog. The ringing is very hard to miss and mistake for another song. When being played live, Thurston just taps on the strings on the tail piece to his jazzmaster.

This is another tune that features the soft spoken vocals of Kim. She manages to bring some sex appeal in her performance when she says "tell that you want to score me." Also, I have no idea what this is about.

The video for this song features Bikini Kill princess Kathleen Hanna.

Bull In The Heather is one of the lone survivors of this album. It was not played live from 1997 to 1999. The 2000 tour acted almost like a greatest hits tour and Bull In The Heather was prominently featured in the top of every set. It gets pulled out every now and then. This song was recently recorded live for a special live album that was given out to those who bought The Eternal early.

Swimsuit Issue

2010-04-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

The second song on the album Dirty is called "Swimsuit Issue"

The name says it all.

"I'm not here for tempation, i'm not your summer vacation, i don't wanna be a sensation!" Are these cries for help? I've always thought that Kim was defending the girls of the 1992 Sports Illustrated Swin Suit Issue or singing in repulsion for the display of human flesh. Either way, this song is another example of Kim taking the role of the feminist and voicing her opinion. For more clarification read the Shoot entry. Another great line is "now your moving your wrists, and i'm not giving you head." I think its repulsion and I think this because at the end of the song, Kim calls out the first name of every model that appears in the 1992 edition. I also like to think that Kim is expressing that these women have names and are not just bodily objects of lust.

This song is very tight and dynamic. The intro is a very tight syncopated guitar riff with nothing but 16th note downstrokes. Being the 2nd song, it wastes no time into launching into the sonic onslaught of noisy rock that the album Dirty represents. Most of Dirty was done with the infamous F#F#F#F#eb tuning.

This one was played nightly during the 1992 tour. It comes back every now and then for one off shows, but has never really resurfaced in the setlist. Not even when Dirty was rereleased.

Lightnin

2010-04-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

The last song on the album NYC Ghosts and Flowers is called "Lightnin"

As I stated in the Free City Rhymes post, NYC Ghosts and Flowers is a mellow album compared to the rest of the bands work. It would seem fitting that they would end the record on such strange note.

Over the years I have heard this song is much better live than the studio version. There is one line to the whole song and it's "lightnin strikes me." Kim sings this line about 6 times in a row using her talking whisper voice. It's kinda creepy when you hear it late at night in the dark (don't ask).

This song seemed to have come together before the album was made as it was the only song debuted with vocals at the '99 secret gigs. The working title was "10." Jim O'Rourke plays an EMS synth for all the weird space sounds and trumpet sound is actually Thurston honking a bike horn that is wedged in his guitar pickups. This strange array of sounds are very similar to the SYR 3 disc which features collaborations with Jim. Maybe it was placed on the end of the record because they needed another song? "Lightnin" is by far the most interesting track because of its standout nature. Not a bad way to end the album. The loose and avant garde atmosphere allows you to recover from the 9 minutes opus that precedes it.

I never saw this song live. My only opportunity was at one of the SYR shows in August 2000. I left the show right after the main set. I should have stayed because this song was played for an encore. That's what I get for being responsible.

Free City Rhymes

2010-04-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

The first song on the album NYC Ghosts and Flowers is called "Free City Rhymes."

In July 1999, Sonic Youth had their equipment stolen. The theft was devastating, but the short summer tour went on. Got give them props for only canceling one show of the 8.

Sonic Youth had become a band that was deadlocked by their equipment. They had become slaves to the technology they had created. This was the best and worst thing that could ever happen to this band. Without the safety net of trusty guitars, tunings, and effects, Sonic Youth was once again allowed to re-invent the wheel they had created, and it started with the NYC Ghosts and Flowers album.

An issue of the Sonic Death newsletter stated that in late '99, the band was hard at work replacing their equipment and trying to learn how to be a band again. Shockingly, the band would do a few gigs debuting instrumental versions of new songs, "Free City Rhymes" was one of those songs with a tentative title as "1." In less than a year, the band would be able to write and record a brand new record. I guess bands should get their stuff stolen more often huh?

With all the new equipment came new tunings. It seems to me the band approached the songs in a "jam" way but flushed out all the eratic changes to just keep the simple portions of the song. "Free City Rhymes" opens with a blip intro and some lightly picked guitar from Kim. The lyrics are a somewhat description/tribute to New York City. The music itself had a floating atmosphere that some of their previous work lacks. You get the feeling that you are floating above the city seeing all the things that Thurston is pointing out. The song ends the same way it starts. A very mellow intro to a very mellow album.

The song clocks in at 7:22, making it one of the longest intros to a Sonic Youth album.

When the band played on Late Night with David Letterman in June 2000, the world was shocked to see Thurston and Lee both playing Les Paul Specials. Never saw that one coming. Plus, the 2000 tour saw the addition of a 5th member, Jim O'Rourke, who has been a collaborator with the band in the past. Not only did he contribute bass and guitar on the tour, but he also is credited as the producer for NYC Ghosts and Flowers.

This song has not been played since 2001.

Starfield Road

2010-04-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

The third song on the LP Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star is called Starfield Road.

This song is 2 minutes and 15 seconds of pure Sonic Youth. It's short and straight to the point.

Most of the material on Experimental was written during band jam sessions. At the time, Thurston claimed he went into making the album with zero ideas because he used up any song idea on his solo album Psychic Hearts. Both records were released in the same year. Starfield Road comes off as not only a song born out of a jam, but also some pre-planned thought.

The intro is very typical for Sonic Youth but not for the time period. The band had made two very commercially accessible albums and were enjoying some long awaited recognition from the years past. The normally thing to do in the year 1994 would be to make another record like the one before but as history shows, Sonic Youth never makes the same album twice. I have said in the past that their albums work in three's and Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star not only comes as the third piece to Goo and Dirty, it also paves the way for the future. The next three records would done primarily through free jams.

The dirgy intro leads into a two chord verse that does not end. The does an abrupt noise ending that is just like the intro. Back to basics, yet something new. The songs has a melody over the two chords and a really wide phaser effect tries its hardest to get you to turn your head and pay more attention to the noise. The phaser is very space like and acts like a rocket. The ending is well timed with the phaser because when it reaches its final apex, the noisy ending erupts to bring the song down. Like a rocket. Hence the title, Starfield Road.

The lyrics for this song are somewhat sexually explicit and dirty. I'm a firm believer that it's about fucking. You can read them HERE.

Shoot

2010-04-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

The third song on the LP Dirty is called "Shoot."

I've always held this song in high esteem and I've always referred to it as fan favorite.

"Shoot" is one of my favorite Kim vocal songs because she uses her very sensual/sexy/whisper voice. The vocal performance is what makes this song what it is. The lyrical content is very teen angst driven an Kim's vocals allows the song to have that flare. In 1992, Kim Gordon was 39 years old, I find it kinda funny that she's singing "can I have the car keys? I wanna go for ride/can I have the car now? I wanna leave this town." Then again, the band was in the their 30's, and they had the weird YOUTH in their name. Go figure.

The song is not all teen angst driven. The song actually depicts a toxic relationship. This theme seems to be re-occurring from time to time. I t was around 1991-92 Kim Gordon began carrying the female rocker torch. The 90's were a very interesting time for music as the underground of he 80's were beginning to emerge in the mainstream of pop culture, and with that, came women in rock bands. But not just women, women playing side roles and not just fronting a band. Kim Gordon, Kim Deal, D'arcy, Juliana Hatefield, and many more were stepping in filling out major roles in rock bands. Kim seemed to be Queen of indie rock.

I like to think that this song, even though it depicts a toxic relationship, isn't about that all the way. Kim was never really the loudmouth Kathleen Hannah of the Riotgrrl movement, but had her own ways of displaying the power of the woman. "Shoot" is example of a woman doing what she wants and deciding not to take No for an answer. Whether the character in the song wants to play bass in a band or leave her lover, she is taking the power away from the over powering male and using it to make herself who she really is in the world.

Stop me if this isn't making any sense.

"Shoot" was regularly played nightly on the Dirty tour of 1992. It was normally the set opener. This is another song that has yet to resurface from that era. I always felt it would make a nice encore piece with the newer material.

Updates

2010-02-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

I was going to post "Shoot" from Dirty today but then I decided to wait. This blog needs some work. I've got a bunch of new posts to bring out but I will be doing to some cleaning on all the earliers posts. There is tons of info and personal commentary I've been meaning to add to them, so I will be doing MANY blog updates over the next few days. After that is finished, I will then give the front page a new look. After that, there will be more new posts. The goal is to be done posting by the end of May. That will bring this project to a full 2 years in the making.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned!

Mildred Pierce

2010-02-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

The 8th song on the LP Goo is called Mildred Pierce.

I was never a big fan of the album Goo. Some friends find that hard to believe. Earlier today I decided to listen to the album in order to finish out the rest of this blog. The band really has me up until this song.

I have always felt that Goo sounded too slick and not dirty enough for Sonic Youth. As I have stated in previous posts, most notably Dirty Boots, the band was making compromises in order to please the hand that was about to feed them. Goo is complete with a few potential hit singles. This song comes off as filler. I never thought I would say it, but that is how I honestly feel. "Mildred Pierce" is a simple three chord punk rock song that has only two words. The song clocks in at 2:13 and leaves something to be desired.

"Mildred Pierce is also cleverly placed in the end sequence of the album. I like to think that it acted like the dividing line between two sides of the band. The first side of the LP comes off as a pop record but the second side is pure avant noise rock.

I still like to think the album is overproduced for a reason. Once again, please refer to Dirty Boots.

For some reason, I always seem to put this song on SY mixes.

This song is in standard tuning and has never been performed live, although, I could be wrong.

Sunday

2010-01-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

The second song on the LP A Thousand Leaves is called "Sunday."

For an album that is as abstract as A Thousand Leaves, it manages to have a "hit" on the record. I noticed a trend with Sonic Youth: stay true to your art while making the powers that be happy with it. It seems that every album that SY has put out on Geffen contains a possible radio single. In my experience in the record industry, as long as they have something to sell (wether they want to sell it or not) they are happy. SY seems to always deliver a single that we will never hear on the radio but it exists to make the suits happy. This is why Sonic Youth managed to release all 9 of their contractual obligated record with Geffen. This is also the reason why Geffen built the band Echo Canyon, a studio for them to spend endless hours of recording and keep the studio bills to a minimum. No matter how commercial Sonic Youth can be, they always manage to do it in a very punk rock/avant garde way. This is why "Sunday" is one of my favorite songs.

"Sunday" doesn't seem to fit amongst its brothers and sisters from the same album. Yet, A Thousand Leaves would be naked without it. After the dirg intro "Contre Le Sexism," the album takes a dramatic turn. Mood-wise, "Sunday" is the perfect transition from one track to the other, but arrangement and sonically speaking, "Sunday" takes the album into another direction. I've always felt the band was saying "psyche!"

"Sunday" is a song that is centered around a riff. There is an intro riff and then a main riff. We don't hear the intro again in the song but it prepares you

This song first appeared on the soundtrack for the film Suburbia in 1997. This version is slightly different. It contains a much longer intro, a longer middle jam, and a spacey outro. Obviously, the song was shortened for the album but the radio single was cut even more. I've never heard it, but I heard the edits were terrible. I often wonder if this song was intended for the Suburbia movie and not an album release. Like I stated above, its the one song that doesn't seem to fit. Plus, it was recorded at a different time from the bulk of A Thousand Leaves but I could be wrong about that. The soundtrack version of the song sounds more like the rest of the LP. Even though it contains the same parts, the edit for the record was more than likely intended for the use of a single. It would not surprise me if Geffen requested the song to use a lead single for the album.

"Sunday" was debuted in 1997 as an instrumental. The song was played regularly at shows from 1998-99. It managed to survive with "Hoarfrost" on the 2000 tour but rarely gets played now.

Unmade Bed

2010-01-19T14:35:00.000-08:00

The second song on the LP Nurse is called "Unmade Bed."

I love the opening chord to this song. It's comes of very spooky and soothing at the same time. The opening portion of the song is very relaxing and allows you to just slide into the song with an undying familiarness. A familiar feeling you don't want to give up.

That's exactly what this song is about: Comfortable Familiarness That You Can't Let Go Of No Matter How Miserable You Are.

The band does a great job painting the picture of two lovers. The female in the relationship is miserable and the male comes and goes as he pleases. "Look whose come back home again." The female knows she must get out of the toxic relationship but he manages to "sucker her back" every time. "Now that you're in arms, know that you're just in his way." All she wants is him to be there physically and mentally. Even when she gets what she wants, she doesn't. The song ends with the line "now its time to fade away." We are left wondering if she realizes her woes and leaves or just falls back into the routine of the toxic lover. You decide.

Dripping Dream

2010-01-19T14:18:00.000-08:00

The third song on the LP Nurse is called "Dripping Dream."

Lately I have been in a mood that wants to remember the summer of 2004. Nothing reminds me more of that summer than the album Nurse.

One of the disappointments of the 8/25/2004 show was that Dripping Dream was not played. It remains one of my favorite songs on the album.

The song is slow to start and features classic sonic arpeggiations that go from light picking to a muted riff. These parts signify the changes in verse but the song picks up during the "caught shadows, sex meadows" part. The song builds in tempo slowly and erupts. The difference in noise eruptions is that this time the chaos is controlled and Lee's guitar noise still retains the riff and melody. The song ends a lot like "Rain on Tin" from Murray Street or the dream-like intro to "The Sprawl" from Daydream Nation.

According to the tour archive this song was only played 4 times during the 2004 tour. It also specifies that Thurston had problems remembering the words and the melody. This makes sense because there are lots of words to this song. Most of them don't make sense, but its just another great example of Thurston putting random lines together that flow like poetry and not song.

Jams Run Free

2009-11-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

The 5th song on the LP Rather Ripped is called "Jams Run Free."

I have always wondered what this song was about. The only portion of the song that could/would allude to any sort of meaning is the first set of lyrics: " Blast ID earth, OM immersed, gold in cave, the blondes come first." The lryics were written by Thurston, so abstract is the name of the game, but is he referring to the end of the world? those that are judged in the end? did Thurston find religion? or just a god to worship? It's possible. Thurston has a tendancy to lead the listener on when putting forth his philosophy on life and living. I also think that the song is just about the end, the world, the band, life, death etc. The end. In the end, the jams will run free. No control, and no structure. Does this make sense?

I also think it's another jab at the bands dance with fame. In years past, Thurston has been quoted by having a "what if" attitude about fame. I think this song aims to set the record straught by stating they would change nothing of their career and truly love what they do. The title itself describes the band on many levels.

Debuted instrumentally sometime in 2005. This song was the centerpiece of the 2006 tour. Often clocking in at 10 minutes. I think this must be the bands favorite song from Rather Ripped as it is one of the only tunes from that album that is still played live.

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T06:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a video with the audio of a live performance of Halloween from 1985. It's all i could find on You Tube of this song. I also searched my live archive and I don't have a live version of this song! Enjoy!

Female Mechanic Now On Duty

2009-10-30T06:11:00.000-07:00

The third song on the album A Thousand Leaves is called "Female Mechanic Now On Duty."

A friend once told me that that Sonic Youth was THE "indie rock jam band." Jam band? Never in a million years would I lump Sonic Youth into such a useless category of music but in retrospect, the band does have many JAM BAND qualities, although I don't ever recall them taking a 39 minute classic album and performing live for 4 hours. I would never put them in the same league as Phish or Widespread Panic, and their fans cringe at the same comments. In the end, Sonic Youth has an amazing ability when it comes to jamming, what sets them apart is that they are creative and expect and end result rather than "hey man let's just see where the music takes us." Its all the same without pot.

"Female Mechanic Now On Duty" wsa bore out hours of jamming. Most of the Thousand Leaves record was taken from bits and peices of long improv sessions at their studio Echo Canyon. The band called them "experiments" and released some of the instrumentals as "Perspective Musicales." Its obvious they wanted their fans to see the fruits of their labors even it all it is in 12 minutes of fuzzy studio feedback. Don't knock it until you have tried it.

In a 1998 interview, Kim and Lee both stated that this song was in response to the Meredith Brooks song "Bitch." Lee stated the riff and the movement of the song lended itself to a more radio freindly environment and until it was slowed down to a blues-y pace. I find Kim's lyrics to be far more BITCH than Meredith Brooks. I'm sure in the back of her mind she was thinking "Bitch? I'll show you bitch!" And you wonder why at age 57 I still think she's hot.

I will point out the end outro of "modern women cry, modern women don't cry" is quite clever.

This song, like all the others on this album, was played nightly on the 98/99 tour. It has not been played since.

A very rocking version of the song from 5/19/1998.

Hoarfrost

2009-10-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

The only Lee Renaldo song to appear on A Thousand Leaves is called "Hoarfrost."

Lee always gets his ONE song. I always find it pretty cool that his vocal song is usually a stand out. I've read that Lee only prefers to sing 1-2 songs per LP. His tunes are usually more poetic, sounding as if he is speaking the words in a melodic tone. This song however lends itself to more of a "singing" style rather than a "spoken" style.

Lee has a tendamcy to supply more description and imagery into his lyrics. "trees passing high above like a spider the color is turning brown." The refrain "I'll know when we get there" is repeated towards the end of every section. It acts like a chorus to tell the listener the circle has come back around. I have always thought this song is about getting lost in the woods, or getting lost and trusting that someone knows the way, even if everything looks the same passing by one by one. A song about trust. This song is very delicate.

"Hoarfrost" was played sometime in 1997 instrumentally and then played nightly from 1998 to 1999. It was also pulled out every now and then on the 2000 tour but has not made an appearance since a small run of festival shows in 2001. I was lucky to hear this one on 8-16-2000. It's the only song from A Thousand Leaves i have heard live. You would think after the last 10 years another one of those tunes would pop up? It's the Sonic Youth way.

A rather different performance of the song from a TV appearance in 1998. Not sure when or where.

Contre Le Sexism

2009-10-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

The first song on Sonic Youth's 1998 LP A Thousand Leaves is called "Contre Le Sexism."

This has got to be one of the weirdest openings to a great album. Opening an album with a an improv noise jam seems very ambitious, even for Sonic Youth.

This 3:55 jam has been edited down from a longer improv that has been said to clock in over 20 minutes! This song has never been performed live but some of the lyrics have popped up during live noise improvs of the tour.

A Thousand Leaves was not only an ambitous record, but a natural progression. I have always felt that most of the bands albums go in three's but this string of albums wsa interupted by the theft of the bands equipment in July 1998.

A Thousand Leaves was the first album recorded at the bands newly built recording studio ECHO CANYON. The constant access to a recording studio allowed the band to fully explore the art of improv song writing without the time constraints of a large studio bill.

No Winner's Blues

2009-07-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

The first song on the album Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star is called "No Winner's Blues."

How weird would it have been to have bought this album in 1993, took it home, played it, and found out that there is an acoustic song opening the record?? It's not just solo acoustic, its a very Thurston-ized solo acoustic song.

A very low-end heavy acoustic guitar rings with Thurston singing pressed up against a cheap micro-phone. The song is short but gets the point across. It almost sounds like a Lou Barlow four track rambling. "Burn out your eyes don't act surprised." I still feel that many of his lyrics are made up and edited on the spot. This tunes sounds as if Thurston was just searching for words that sounded "cool" together. The song ends with the mic falling on the floor. It's a loud boom! This is not an indication of where things are going because by this time, the band has figured out a thing or two do not want to repeat themselves from massive grunge influenced recpord they had made before. "No Winner's Blues" drips of melody and could have been more, but why ruin a good thing? Noise and feedback would have killed this little gem.

Has this ever been played live? Probably not.

One of the few songs that is in a somewhat standard tuning.

Nashville, Tn 7-11-2009 @ The War Memorial

2009-07-12T09:03:00.001-07:00

Setlist:

Sacred Trickster

No Way

Calming The Snake

Silver Rocket

Leaky Life Boat

Antenna

Malibu Gas Station

The Sprawl

Anti-Orgasm

Poison Arrow

Walkin Blue

Massage The History

White Cross

----------------------------------

Shadow of a Doubt

Pacific Coast Highway

What We Know

Death Valley '69

Skip Tracer

2009-07-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

My favorite Lee Renaldo song is on the album Washing Machine and is called "Skip Tracer."

Lee returns to the use of his "talking" singing voice. Many of his songs are very poetic and sound like poetry put to music, this song is no different, only it has a melody that creeps out every now and then.

I like this song because it really "moves." Even though the opening riff is played for the first part of the song over and over, its Lee's intense lyrics that keep the song moving. The song builds and builds, but its brought down for a quiet moment "where are you now?....borrow and never returned, emotions, books, and outlooks on life" There isn't much of an eruption on the finish, but the band ends more of an emotional crash rather than a noise crash. I have always felt this song may have some deeper meaning than the fallin rock star it depicts, but then again, maybe thats what it is about.

"Skip Tracer" is one of the longest lasting Lee Renaldo songs. Of all the songs he has contributed or sang, this one has managed to get played on every tour since it's release. Of all the songs on Washing Machine, this one is the only song that ever gets played live anymore. This may have something to do with the 1999 equipment theft, but you never know, just another mystery yet to be solved.

Sacred Trickster

2009-07-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

The first song on the newest Sonic Youth album The Eternal is called "Sacred Trickster."

Quite possibly one of the best Sonic openers since....well...since....Daydream Nation!!

"Sacred Trickster" is one of the most "punk rock" songs on the Sonic Youth catalog and it rings in at about two minutes. The track is very reminiscent of the material on Dirty and features some syncopated guitar scratching that was used alot by the band on Goo and Dirty.

This song is tuned to DDAF#AD. Although Lee is playing in DDDDAA. Might have to try that one!

The Eternal represents a return to form for Sonic Youth. The record is full of very "classic" sounds, almost as if they were trying to revisit every era of the band.

I Love You Golden Blue

2009-07-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

The second to last song on the album Nurse is called "I Love You Golden Blue."

The album Nurse came as a surprise to me. I had no idea the band was working on a new record, even when I got a sneak peek at some new tunes in at a show in June 2003. In 2004, I was very oblivious to many things around me and the fact that a new Sonic Youth album was coming in May, I was all the more happier, and it made the summer of 2004 even more memorable.

A promo copy of Nurse came to the WTMS radio station sometime in April or March. A freind of mine at the station was kind enough to burn me a copy a month before it's release and the last track was "I Love You Golden Blue." To my surprise on the release date in May, "I Love You Golden Blue" was the second to last song, followed by "Peace Attack." Other promo versions of the album had "I Love You Golden Blue" as the first song. Strange huh?

Oddly enough, when the band spent May through October on tour for the record, "I Love You Golden Blue" was the set opener. This song features Lee on the organ, which he would eventually do in the live set.

Like many Sonic songs, I think this one is about death. Or the death of a friend.

This is a strange kind of song. It features a sound scape opener for a good 2 minutes before any guitar comes in. The entire song acts like a soundscape and sounds like something that could have been on the NYC Ghosts and Flowers album. Nonetheless, it falls into a category of forgotton songs that only really existed to compliment the time period. It would be weird if they started doing this one again.

Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style

2009-07-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

The fourth song on the album Murray Street is called "Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style."

This has got to be one of the weirdest titles in the Sonic Youth catalog, but strangely enough they actual use this line in the lyrics of the song. Pretty damn creative if you ask me.

I realy don't know what this one is about. It is one of my favorites from this era and it's a shame it never made it past the 2003 tour. I often wonder if it's another one of Thurston's songs filled with nothing but gibberish and slang words. I'm sure the title was just something that spilled out of his mouth at one point and it became cemented into the songs fate. Or maybe Thurston is a bonified genius.

Most of this album was done in two different tunings. On this track, Thurston is playing in CGDGCD while Lee is playing in GGDGGA. This features some great tunings. Around this time, Thurston was usually playing the top two strings ringing open while riffing on the bottom four. Lee has a similar technique in his playing as well. But what strikes me about this tuning is the noise factor. This song breaks into noise after the two main (and rather wordy) verses end. Apparently there is a trumpet and saxophone on this song, but I can't tell. Please bring this back!

Cool Videos!

2009-07-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a really cool video from 2003!

The abnd is playing "Catholic Block" from Sister but the video has it labeled as "Plastic Sun"

Here is Empty Page from the same show:

Plastic Sun

2009-07-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

The second to last song on Murrary Street is called "Plastic Sun."

In the early part of 2002 Sonic fans got a small preview of the upcoming Murrary Street album via SonicYouth.com. "Plastic Sun" was given away as a free download when the song was released as a promo in the wrong pitch. The free download features a few different lyrics and a different bass line. I used to have it, I should go look for it...

:::45 minutes later::::::

Ok. Can't find it, but I still have a few other places to look.

Plastic Sun reminds me of older Sonic Youth. Almost as if this song could have appeared on Confusion Is Sex or even Bad Moon Rising. There is no real chord progression and the song is driven by a thumping bass line along with Thurston and Lee doing all the guitars on drumsticks. Sounds pretty old school to me. Even the syncopated drum line with the lyrics "i hate you and your greasy friends" fits the scheme of the 1983 era of the band.

This song was debuted at the 2002 All Tomorrow's Parties. It has not been played since 2005. That's a shame because it's one of my favorites from the last few records.

Karen Revisited (Karenology)

2009-06-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

The fourth song on the album Murray Street is called "Karen Revisited."

This song appears on the album as "Karen Revisited" but appears on every setlist as "Karenology." It has been told by Lee that the official title of the song is "Karenology" and was not changed in time to be changed for the pressing of the album.

If you own the vinyl of Murrary Street, this song has been displaced because of its 12 minute running time. It appears on the cd as track 4 but comes in as track 3.

This is another song that was morphed from a series of jams. Kim was supposed to sing this one, but Lee penned the lyrics and it became what it is. The other song in question was Sympathy for the Strawberry.

I don't have much to say about this one because it is my least favorite song on Murray Street. I feel the actual 4 minutes of the song would have been enough. This is one of the few times I feel the band has ruined a song with a noise jam. For a good solid 2 minutes, there is a high pitched fuzzy feedback that really hurts my ears. It wouldn't be so bad if there was something else happening. The song builds and has a nice finally when Lee yells "ask me if I care!" After that, I usually skip the rest of the song, sorry guys.....

I always wonder if this song is about Karen Carpenter. The band seems to be obsessed with her. what's with the name Karen? It gets used and kicked around a lot.

"Karenology" was debuted in September 2001 as an instrumental with all the other songs from the record. It was played nightly from 2002 to 2003. It has not been played since 2003.

Rain On Tin

2009-06-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

The third song on the album Murray Street is called "Rain On Tin."

Opening the doors to the studio has always been one of the coolest things about the internet. In 2001, the band began to embrace the the networking power of having a website and the "Echo Cam" that was on 24/7 in the studio made the excitement of a new record all the more exciting. I had heard many of the instrumentals that were "new" songs, but a finished record in my hot little hands in January 2002 was far off. I would have to to wait until June.

"Rain On Tin" was always a favorite from Murray Street. I believe there is a total of 15 words in the entire song! The song comes in with a few short lines followed by a cymbal crash and some dissonant chords behind each line. Then a "sonic" jam starts and continues for the next 5 minutes, ending the song with some well coordinated guitar work between Thurston and Lee. I have always thought that this song was borderline instrumental and maybe the band thought adding some lyrics could keep it from ending up as an instrumental. There is no real middle portion to the song but there is definitely a start and a finish. I could take this song as an instrumental because it does not feel jammy, it feels very well thought out.

"Rain On Tin" was played nightly, sometimes opening shows, throughout the 2002-03 tour. It came back in the form of an encore in 2004 several times, including the show I saw in Atlanta in August 2004. It was cool to see them pull it out on a different our and not abandon it like some other songs

Disconnection Notice

2009-06-02T06:23:00.001-07:00

The second song on the album Murray Street is called "Disconnection Notice."

While the band was making murray Street, the placed a webcam in the studio so you could watch them recording. It was on at all hours of the day and night and was pretty cool when you flipped it on and saw Jim, Lee or Thurston sitting at the mixing board. Pretty cool stuff.

In late 2001 Thurston told Rolling Stone that they were under no obligation to deliver a new record but have not heard from the label since the end of the previous year. Even with no label interest in a new record, the band went ahead on recording, after all, Geffen gave them the money to build Echo Canyon, the studio that sits on Murray Street.

I have always thought that this song was about Sonic Youth's relationship with Geffen. The 90's were over and the ever evolving music business has cast a shadow on on the early nineties, but the world has had a taste of Sonic Youth long before 1991. Part of me wants to think this song was about getting dropped with the line "did you get your disconnection notice? Mine came in the mail today." The next few lines "they're telling me that i'm disconnected" which could refer to Sonic Youth's place in popular culture or mainstream music. On paper the band looks terrible, but in eyes of the fans and record buyers, Sonic Youth were rock and roll gods. This explains Thurstons "what if" approach to the record.

"Disconnection Notice" was debuted in September 2001 as an instrumental. It has been played sporadically since the 2002-03 tour.

Empty Page

2009-06-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

The first song on the album Murray Street is called "Empty Page."

After two years of dealing with a new set of equipment, and touring behind the NYC Ghosts and Flowers album, it looked like the band would take a small break and possibly do some other projects.

Not the case. During the development of the NYC Ghost and Flowers material, the band had to re-learn how to make noise, and they did this by pulling out many older tunes from 2000 to 2001 tours. "Kool Thing" was resurrected after a long absence.

The natural thing for any band to do during and after a transitional period is to keep up the momentum, and thats exactly what the band did coming into the year 2002.

"Empty Page" was the first song written and recorded for Murray Street. Thurston says that he intended to make a solo album with a bunch of new songs he wrote on his brothers "strange G tuned" guitar. He felt the songs were too pop and too structured and felt a solo record would be better. But after the band heard the demos and a few rehearsals, it was obvious that these new tunes would work great for a new Sonic Youth record.

"Empty Page" has an opening, a verse, chorus, bridge, solo, and coda. It is one of my favorite openings to a Sonic Youth album.

"These are the words but not the truth." Byron Coley claims that this song has to do with Thurston wondering "what if" about the band, and on a visit to Boston he kept wondering what his life would have been like without Sonic Youth. Seems interesting because at this time, Thurston was 43, and opening for Pearl Jam in 2000 probably got him thinking about fame and what it really is and what it does. This is deep, even for Thurston, but I consider Byron Coley to be a reliable source.

This was debuted in 2002 along with the other 6 songs from Murray Street in September 2001. it was played nightly from 2002 to 2003 and has made many appearances since that time. I hope they pull this one out again soon.

Sympathy For The Strawberry

2009-05-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

The last song on the album Murray Street is called "Sympathy For The Strawberry."

Classic Sonic Youth drone. This song was built from the constant "no wave" riff that drives the song. Thurston and Lee add little blips here and there. It's a pretty slow song that carries on for 9 minutes. This is also a classic Sonic way of closing an album.

The song started off instrumental and was played on a short trip to Europe in 2001. I remember hearing about the "five new instrumentals" that debuted on this tour. This got me excited that a new album would be in the works. I also saw a video of the band playing a 9/11 benefit from September of 2001. They opened with the new instrumentals and this song was the first in the set an was announced as "Magik Chord." It even appears that way on the setlist. The final verson is much different as the early live version just sounds like droning with some guitar on top. Lee originally wanted to apply some of his lyrics that would become "Karen Revisited" and Kim wanted to sing "Karen." The two switched.

There is no clearly defined melody in this song and the words sound improvised. When I saw the band in 2002 and 2003, the words of this song seemed different both times and the song was extended well past the 9 minute album cut.

This song has not been played since 2003.

Purr

2009-05-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

The second to last song on the album Dirty is called "Purr."

Thurston once said that the album Dirty was made in response to touring with Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr in 1991. He claimed that the band felt like it was competing night after night to hold their own against the two up and coming super bands. Being that Daydream Nation and Goo both took influence from Dinosaur Jr, it also safe to say that Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr also evolved themselves as a result to playing with Sonic Youth. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" and pretty much the entire In Utero album is a good example of the Sonic rubbing off onto Nirvana.

"Purr" is such a song that takes away from that experience. It has a melody, a verse/chorus and even something that resembles a guitar solo using a very nasty sounding flanger! Pretty cool huh?

This was one of the earliest songs written for Dirty. It was debuted in 1991, probably during the Goo tour. "Purr" is a great example of the band showing its punk rock roots. The riff is simple and the song comes together with a very cohesive three chord change up. The beginning starts off almost like a Dammed song. Steve Shelley rocks the hell out of those drums, which is something new for the Dirty album. I always wondered why this one never got as much play. It was played during the Dirty era, but has not been touched since. I always looked at it as a show closer.

Peace Attack

2009-05-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

The last song on Nurse is called "Peace Attack."

I was there the night this song was debuted on June 17th 2003. It was the first song in the setlist and was played along with a few others that would end up on Nurse. Thurston cam right out and announced this song was about the war in Irag, that had just began on Feb. 3rd of that year. It was Sonic Youth's small statement of protest. It was done right, and they did not get preachy. You have to love that about Sonic Youth, they just say what they need to say, and then they are finished.

"Peace Attack" is slower number. It has chimy and very bright chords with a clearly defined verse/chorus. By the time the band came around to making Nurse, they had been trying to get away from the free-form songs that had been so prominant on the previous 3 albums. Debuting this song during the Murrary Street tour was a clear indication of the direction that would be taken for the next few years.

This has been rarely played live. Just a handful of times. Its one of those mysteries of that band that probably won't be solved. "Peace Attack" is a song that came at the right time and is a subtle protest song. Maybe the band did not want it to become an anthem for the anti-war of the time. But here we are, 6 years later, and the war still continues.

Promo copies of Nurse had Peace Attack listed as the opening track to the album. Others had "I love You Golden Blue" as the opening track. Weird huh?

Stones

2009-05-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

My favorite song from the album Nurse is called "Stones."

This song is a stand out for some odd reason. It could be that when I saw the band on the 2004 tour, this was the second song. I had the entire summer to get acquainted with Nurse, and this was a stand out track. Enough to get me going at the show.

I have always felt that this song was about ghosts, even if the lyrics use the word from time to time. But what about stones? I did some digging a fews ago, and found that in Death Valley, there are mysterious shaking stones. There are countless theories as to why they vibrate, but many believe its the ghosts of Death Valley.

I have always wondered why Thurston has such interest in deserts, and even in Death Valley. Does he long to live in such a desolate place? It has also been said that the song refers to Jerry Garcia or "The Dead." I personally don't think so, but you never know.

This song was debuted with all the other songs from Nurse at a secret gig in 2003. It was played nightly in 2004, saw some more play in 2005, and got sporadic in 2006. It has not been played since sometime during the Rather Ripped 2006 tour. I hope they pull this one out again for the upcoming summer tour.

Sorry Again....

2009-04-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

I'm lame. School, work, band, brewery. No time. Just give me a few more days or weeks to get myself straight....

Sorry

2009-03-30T05:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I have posted. Once again, I've been busy. Plus, the news of the a new Sonic Youth record will only make this blog longer. Starting April 1st, I will resume posting regularly.

My Friend Goo

2009-02-13T16:48:00.001-08:00

The 5th song on the LP Goo is called "My Friend Goo."

This song was written completely by Kim on guitar.

I don't have much to say about this song. Mike Watt pointed out in the video for "My Friend Goo" that "Goo" was supposed to any girl who had a boyfriend that played in a punk rock band. She represents fandom and a punk rock groupie. "Goo" is the rebellious girl all young teenage girls aspire to be but can't make that transition.

Not really played much live. "Goo" has not been played since 1991.

Mote

2009-01-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

The 5th song on the LP Goo is called "Mote."

The return of Lee! I have a friend that claims that "Mote" is the quintessential Sonic Youth song. I would file this one under "Greatest Hit" collection. It's my second favorite Lee Renaldo song.

"Mote" follows "the hit" of the album. Strange because if "Mote" had been cut, it easily be an stand out track and possibly a single.

In perfect Lee fashion, the lyrics are derived from a Sylvia Plath poem called "the Eye Mote." The song was actually introduced as "Eye Mote" during early concerts.

The demo is much different from the version on Goo. For starters, its titled "bookstore" and does not feature a bridge and centers mostly around the ending noise jam.

"Mote" became Lee's principle song in concert, typically alternating with Eric's Trip. The song ended up surving longer than most of Lee's songs only getting retired briefly during the 1998-99 Thousand Leaves Tour. "Mote" was brought back during the 2000-01 tour and was played in a medley with Hoarfrost called MoteFrost.

Last April, Mote was the 4th song in the set! Pretty ambitious with the extreme noise jam at the end!

Kool Thing

2009-01-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

The 4th song on the LP Goo is called "Kool Thing."

This song is a radio song. Plain and simple. If there ever was a break out song for Sonic Youth, this is the one.

"Mary Christ" ends with the Kool Thing riff coming in, but the track ends and repeats the same riff. Many were puzzled for years about this until the Goo Demos surfaced only to show that both songs go into each other and the ending of Mary Christ is from the demo.

Chuck D makes a special appearance on this track. He doesn't rap but talks. Apparently it took him one take!

This song is about being cool. Seems to be a hot topic with the band during this time. Sonic Youth could have felt indifferent about their new major label home. They could have also felt indifferent about the possibility of being "mainstream" cool rather than underground hipster cool. Either way, the label rejecting the first version of Goo could have been the reason why this song turned out a little different from the demo. It's strategically placed as the 4th track, around the other "radio friendly" tracks.

Maybe I read too much into things, but he Sonic's themselves are very careful about what they do. By this time, They KNOW how to write a pop song, they just didn't choose to until now. To quote the Sandlot, "she knows what she's doing, she knows EXACTLY what she's doing!"

Another song in F#F#F#F#ee. Many more to come! This will prove to be Sonic Youth's most marketable tuning. Thurston has a tendency to write a whole record using one tuning.

"Kool Thing" was played nightly during the 1990-91 tour. It got some play during the 100% Dirty Tour in 1992, but disappeared from the set completely until the 2000 NYC Ghost and Flowers Tour. Yes, we were shocked to see it come back! In 2001, Kim sat on the stage, looked at me, and did the "hey kool thing! come here! sit down beside me" part while looking and motioning to me!!

Mary Christ

2009-01-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

The third song on the LP Goo is called "Mary Christ."

After the longer droning outro of Tunic, Mary Christ starts out with a bang! A very jazzmaster tremelo bang that is!

"Mary Christ" has all the elements of a straight up punk/pop song. Verse/chours/verse/chorus. There's even a guitar solo thats emulated through a thick noisy fuzz pedal. This track makes it clear that Sonic Youth is once again being influenced by its peers, this song is very grunge! Kim also provides a nice "talk back" vocal in between every few lines. Trade off vocals are very "punk rock."

This sogn represents an eveuntual evolution into the 90's. Sonic Youth has already made their mark, but at this time, have their goals set into a different mode. How do you become a rock band? Could you call anything pre-Goo rock? "Mary Christ" is that effort. I'm sure having Don Fleming and J Macsis around couldn't hurt after all. Enough with the experimentation and "free sound," lets make a rock album!

The song is a about a friend of Thurston's, whom he used to go ice skating with. He apparently ran into her while on vacation in California in 1989. Inspiration at its best!

One of the earliest songs to contain the F#F#F#F#ee tuning. Used alot on this album.

"Mary Christ" has been played live since 1991.

Tunic (Song For Karen)

2009-01-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

The second song on the LP Goo is called "Tunic (Song For Karen).

This song is a tribute to the late great Karen Carpenter. The band seems to enjoy singing about her or making reference to her. They even covered Superstar for the 1995 tribute, If I Were A Carpenter. Ironically enough, its only good track on the tribute.

The refrain, to me, still refers to the mystery of the industry. "You are never going anywhere." Geffen, J Macsis, Don Fleming, and Gary Gersh all deny there was any pressure to produce a marketable, slick productive record. Thurston to this day still prefers the 8 track demos over the actual record. The sogn could be a cry for help or just an insane chorus tributed for Karen. Either way, there was pressure in 1989-90, and with a larger than ever recording budget, and 24 track studio with large ceilings, the band was out of their environment, and I'm sure they all thought their stint on a major would be a short and sweet one. "You Are never going anywhere" explains all that in one simple line. If anyone felt the pressure it was Thurston, who wrote this song while on vacation in California in the summer of 1989.

This song has not been played since the end of the 1991 tour. There is probably a reason for that. It's never been one of those "whoaa!!" live songs. It has a tendancy to make the album drag being that its only the second track.

Dirty Boots

2009-01-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

The first song on Sonic Youth's 1990 LP Goo is called "Dirty Boots."

Goo marks the start of a new era of Sonic Youth, the Geffen era. After being approached by majors for the entire 1988-89 tour, Sonic Youth finally settled on Geffen, because they were the only label that allowed complete artistic freedom, or so they thought.

Goo was practically written over a weekend and recorded in less time, atleast the first rejected draft of the record was. The band entered Wharton Tiers Fun City Studio at beginning of 1990 and busted out 11 songs on an old 8-track tape machine. The tapes were handed to the people at Geffen with the intention of being released as their major label debut. Leave it up to Sonic Youth to hand in the most super duper lo-fi album to a major label. In all truth, the band was mocking them and they knew it!

"Dirty Boots" sounds nothing like the band has ever done before. Thurston claims that being on tour with bands like Dinosaur Jr and Nirvana made him feel like he had to compete. Thurston also has the most "pop" sensibility of all the band members, so Thurston took the writing into an even more mainstream direction than ever before. "Dirty Boots" says it all.

The song was written in California in the summer of 1989. The lyrics managed to take many "slang" terms and string them together. Essentially, the song is about california and how fake it is. Could this also be a song about the industry the band was about to enter? I think so. Sonic Youth knew what they were about to get into. Dirty Boots shows they are no stranger to the music industry and its way of "screwing" over. the band entered this with a "take no prisoner do what you want" attitude. Now THATS punk rock!

There are three versions of this song out there. First the Goo version. Then what is considered to be the "demo" versions. Both Wharton Tiers versions are different, but only in length. These can be found on the Goo re-issue.

This song has not been played since 1993. I wonder why? Seriously! I do! I met a freind at a Sonic Youth show in 2004. We hit it off and had a great time enjoying the band together. Before the encore, she turned to me and said "If they play Dirty Boots can I kiss you?" If you've seen the video, you will know what i'm talking about. Good times.

The 1990 video:

Taken from the documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke

Trilogy: The Wonder, Hyperstation, Eliminator Jr.

2008-12-31T10:12:00.000-08:00

The final track on Sonic Youth's 5th LP Daydream Nation is a three song jam called "Trilogy." The three segments are titled The Wonder, Hyperstation, and Eliminator Jr.

How do you end one of the most influential albums in music history? What was going through the bands head when deciding on the track listing for what could have potentially been the bands last and final record? How do you bring everything you have spent building for the last 6 years to a grinding halt? Easy, take three songs that were not going to be on the album, and make it one song. 14 minutes......

By the end of the recording process, the band had many untitled jams that were not going to be used for the record. Sonic Youth managed to peice together three of Thurstons contributions because they all sounded veyr similar to each other and flowed neatly. If the band had not distinguished the three sections, the listener would never know. Ending on a long, yet high note is something the band is known to do. So far, "Expressway To Yr Skull" had been the only record ending opus, but this way of ending an album will repeat several times in the next 20 years.

The album gets is name from "Hyperstation." The line "day dreamy day in a day dream nation." Thurston enjoys rhyming random words together, even if he is not making any real clear sense. Kim explained that the title was going to come from a line in a song, so they jsut wrote out a list of potential titles derived from all the songs. "Daydream Nation" won the vote.

The "Trilogy" manages to take everything the band had worked towards and lump it into a 14 minute opus. Daydream Nation is the top of a mountain. After 5 records, the music had evolved the place they wanted to take it. Art punk became the Sonic Youth sound. ANy band that can take noise and turn it into pop music deserves recognition. And that is why Daydream Nation was added to the United States Library of Congress Popular Music Preserve List in 2006. It's just that good people!

"Trilogy" was played nightly during the 1988'89 tour. It was retired, never to be heard again until 2007 when band decided to do a tour playing the album from start to finish. All 14 minutes of it.

Daydream Nation is the end of an era and the start of a new one. By the end of 1989, the band went around world and began going in a brand new yet obvious direction. Music was about a to change in a way Sonic Youth would have never imagined in 1982. In just under a year, their cult-like status will change to god-like, with help of a guy named Kurt.

Kissability

2008-12-27T14:55:00.000-08:00

The second to last track on Daydream Nation is called "Kissability."

Sonic fans got one of the greatest suprises in 2002, Kissability had risen from the grave! During the Murrary Street tour, the band re-worked and worked in some older tunes for Kim to sing freely with Jim O'rourke rocking the bass. Kool Thing and Making The Nature Scene were among the songs brought back into the set.

"Kissability" is another song that re-invents an older Sonic style. The song has a bass riff that drones the main riff with verse and chorus both sharing the riff. Lee provides more of his now signature harmonics and picking. Plus, there is a breakdown of noise that leads back into the main riff. Very reminiscent of the EVOL era.

"Kissability" was the first of many Daydream Nation songs to come back during the 2002-03. Before this time, Teenage Riot and Eric's Trip were only songs that survived and were played regularly. Kissability, Total Trash, Candle, and Silver Rocket all saw set time from 2002-06.

Rain King

2008-12-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

The next song on Daydream Nation is called "Rain King."

This is a milestone for one very simple reason....its Lee's 3rd vocal on a record. By far, the most of any Sonic Youth album. What does this tell us? Lee should sing more.....

Dirge and grind. This song reminds me of older Sonic. It was never really one of my favorites, but brings a smile to myself. It has a twinge to it that hints at things to come...lead guitar!! Not sure why but the working title was called "Mellancamp." John perhaps?

Rarely played live. Lee often changed the lyrics during the '88 tour. He shows this in years to come with many of his contributions. Lee has always felt that just because a song is recorded and released, its never the final realization of the song. Rain King falls into that category, must be why the rarely played the song.

Resurrected for the 2007-08 Daydream Nation re-issue shows. Has not survived since.

Candle

2008-12-25T11:46:00.001-08:00

The 9th song on Daydream Nation is called "Candle."

Slow burn. Isn't that what a candle does? It can only burn and light so long. The cover of Daydream Nation features a rather simple photograph of a candle. This song represents the center piece of the album. aren't candles also used as centerpieces?? Ironic isn't it?

"Candle" starts off slow and quiet, then moves into main section of the song. Alot like Cross The Breeze, its multi-sectional, but features very straight verse/chorus parts.

The song uses alot of imagery alternating the word "candle." The line "tonight's the day" is a play on the Neil Young song "Today is The day." "Tonight's The Day" was one of few titles kicked around for Daydream Nation. The song actually influenced the use of the candle on the cover. The front cover was painted by artist Gerhard Ritcher in 1983. It's titled "Kerze." The album was sold on the bootleg market in Russia. They even attempted to re-create the front cover...

Candle was one of easiest to pull off live Thurston and Lee both use a EEAAEE tuning. Lee of course plays the more intricate parts while Thurston leads the riff along with bass.

Candle disappeared after the '89 tour and came back in 2002! That was a surprise because the band was opening many shows with Candle. It enjoyed some nice stage time for most of the 2002-03 tour, then went back into hiding until 2006 when it was obvious the band was gearing up for their 2007 Daydream Nation tour. Candle remains a fan favorite from this record.

Video to come soon.....

Providence

2008-12-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

The 8th song on Daydream Nation is called "Providence."

This is hardly a song, more like a transition. 1988, Thurston went to see his friend Mike Watt's new band fIREhOSE in NYC. Thurston had come to the show with a box of cables of cassettes. He later discovered that he accidently threw the box away along with some trash at the show. Watt cakked Thurston at 10:30 the enxt night in Providence, Rhode Island asking if he had found the box. The track features the message Watt left on the answering machine. Apparently Thurston was "high" and becomes forgetful....

This song also has a piano playing in the background. This was taken from a cassette recording at Thurston's mother's house. Sounds of an over heating peavey tube amp can be heard in the background aswell.

Providence is a nice transition from half of the record to the other. This sound collage seems to be influenced by Lou Barlow's tape collage on the Dinosaur Jr album "You're Living All Over Me." Lou's cassette collages were becoming more frequent at shows, and around this time Thurston began blasting random cassettes of Madonna filled with guitars noises and answering machine messages.

This song was "played" inbetween the main set and encore on the '88-'89 tour. Usually before Total Trash during the end of the set. "Providence" was also placed in its proper place during the 2007-08 Daydream Nation shows.

Videos!

2008-12-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some Youtube videos from the past few posts...

Hey Joni

2008-12-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

The seventh song on Daydream Nation is called "Hey Joni."

Lee actually sings more than one song on a record! This does not happen very often, in fact, Lee sings one other, which we will get to soon!

Inspired by the movie "Neuromancer," the titles takes a play on the song "Hey Joe."

This song comes at you with force. After the noises and drones from Total Trash, Hey Joni starts immediately, no time for an intro or extended parts. Lee and Thurston play very similar parts on this song and even share tunings. This is rare, which leads me to believe this song came together quickly, leaving no time for thought. 'Hey Joni" also features more of Lee's intricate signature harmonics.

This is also one of the few Sonic Youth songs that feature a very stable verse/chorus/verse/chorus. Thurston and Kim have stated that around this time they digging on Dinosaur Jr, and J's songs influenced much of the writing. I would be more inclined to believe this on Goo or Dirty, but in 1988, Dinosaur was hot sheet on the indie scene.

This is my freind Jason Manley's favorite song.

This song got retired in 1990. It makes sense because Eric's Trip was the staple Lee song until 1995. Hey Joni was revived for a few shows in 2006 but brought back into the set nightly during the 2007 Daydream Nation re-release tour. Hey Joni also managed to get regular play after that tour during all the sporatic dates in 2008. It was play in Nashville back in April...and it was awesome!!

Total Trash

2008-12-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

The sixth song on Daydream Nation is called "Total Trash."

"Total Trash" follows Eric's Trip very seamlessly. It has a very simple three chord riff and drives almost the entire song. The riff is very "rock and roll" 12 bar blues, something we don't see too much in the Sonic Youth cannon, but of course its not tuned to E!

Total Trash uses the same riff throughout the song as both a verse and chorus with Lee providing some really basic lead guitar. Thurston sings a melody that rings and has some catchy words.

BUT....

We ge to the end of 2nd chorus and typical Sonic fashion, it all comes crumbling down like building getting demolished. Leave it up to Sonic Youth to completely deconstruct one of the most basic songs of their current status! Its still all punk and no play.

The breakdown leads into a nice noise jam that uses the riff as a backbone. It has been said that Totla Trash is the second longest song on this record. A rough mix from the daydream sessions emerge in bootleg form to reveal the song having a much longer jam making the song well over 9 minutes! What is great about this tune is that the breakdown is more of a "jam" than a noise jam because the main riff is contained and each member gets to sort of "go off" for a moment or two. Mastrubation at its best. Where's J Mascis when you need him?

"Total Trash" was often played last in the set during the Daydream '88-'89 tour. It was absent until '93 where it was played nightly but then took another back seat until being dusted off June 18th 2003 in Louisville, Ky (i was there!) First performance in 10 years. It was played twice after that (same tour) and did not appear again until the 2007 Daydream Nation anniversary shows.

Video to come!

Eric's Trip

2008-12-06T08:29:00.001-08:00

The fifth song on Daydream Nation is the Lee Renaldo classic "Eric's Trip."

Bugged eyed excitement came over me in June 2006 when I saw Sonic Youth in Atlanta on the Rather Ripped tour. Thurston broke out the drifter guitar and I knew what was coming....I could feel it...Lee says "ok my turn, this is eric's trip!"

Eric's Trip is one of the masterpeices that gives Daydream Nation its fortune and glory. This song is one of fur Lee songs to appear on the album, but for years, remained Lee's main staple in the set.

The melodic almost spoken words "I can't see anything at all, all I see is me, that clear enough thats whats important, to see me." So simple, yet so eloquent. Eric's Trip is anthem in itself. The songs takes lyrical inspiration from the Andy Warhol film "Chelsea Girls" following the acid trip of one of the characters Eric Emmerson.

One of the most inventive Sonic tracks. The entire song was written using Thurston's Drifter guitar. It was also during this time the band began to rely more heavily on their equipment. Eric's Trip seemed nearly impossible to pull off without the drifter!

Eric's Trip was the Lee staple from '88-'99, only to be replaced with Hoarfrost and Skip Tracer. The song seemed to be lost forever when the band had their equipment stolen in the summer of '99. After a nearly four year silence, the song returned a few times when Thurston managed to find adn hot rod another drifter guitar. The 2006 tour featured the song in heavy rotation, especially for the Daydream Nation album shows.

Video to come soon!

Videos!

2008-11-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

I have been posting the last few blogs from work. The computers all have flash and other media players disabled which will not let me view or post videos from YouTube. Here some videos from the last three posts....Enjoy!

Teenage Riot 2007 Tour

Silver Rocket video 1988

The Sprawl 12-22-2007

Cross The Breeze

2008-11-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

The 4th song on Daydream Nation is called "Cross The Breeze."

After the 8 minute opus of "The Sprawl," Daydream Nation is amped up into hyperspeed with "Cross The Breeze." This song is a masterpiece in the sonic catalogue, it features 5 very distinct parts, all with different sections and varying tempos. This song seems like it would difficult to pull off live.But they did, always, even 17 years later....

The song begins the same way it predecessor does, only it launches into a two chord punk riff backed by a galloping drum beat. Is it possible to have a punk song thats over 6 minutes? Does that defeat the purpose? The song can be divided up into 5 parts A B C D.

Here's how it breaks down:

Part A: Intro
Part B: Upbeat intro/lead in main section instrumental
Part C: verse/chorus "lets go walking on the water....i want to know"
Part D: "running cross the breeze"
Part B
Part A

The band began a reginment of labeling ever portion of every song with letters. Kim claimed they would lay them out on the floor, some songs would go up to Z!

Cross The Breeze's multi sectional approach made the song very difficult to pull off live especially with all the time and tempo changes. It was played nigtly on the '88-'89 tour and got some play in 1990 but was not dusted off until 2006 when the band began slowly placing Daydream Nation songs in their set to ultimately be played in its entire form. Cross The breeze shared some extra stage time on all the scattered 2008 dates.

Video to come soon....

The Sprawl

2008-11-20T13:10:00.001-08:00

The 3rd song on Daydream Nation is called "The Sprawl."

There are two kinds of Sonic Youtn fans, those that love Daydream Nation and those that think its too long and drags. "The Sprawl" is easily the song that gives the listener the "drag" red flag. After the high powered "Teenage Riot" and sonic-punk "Silver Rocket," The Sprawl takes a nose dive in tempo, clocks in at over 7 minutes, and features 3 minutes of an instrumental outro. Sonic Youth is showing no signs of slowing down if you can make it past this song. It has its finer points. When the band set out to "extend" their jams and songs, the Sprawl HAD to be one of the forst songs set in that direction. Although the track has a "free flowing" feel, it is highly orchestrated and resembles the wall of noise we once loved from the Confusion Is Sex era.

The song features a chorus that repeats in the same place. A veyr pop type attribute for a song of this type."Come on down to the store, you can some more." The rest of the vocals feature a typical sonic youth style of "spoken" word singing. The lyrics sound simple and improvised, in fact they more than likely were even though some of the lyrics were taken and inspired by "The Stars At Noon by Denis Johnson. Favorite line "does this sound simple enough? fuck you! does fuck you! sound simple enough?"

The loose outro is what feels as if the song drags. The layered guitars playing the same drone over and over seem to go on and on until it melts into the next track....then things pick up....

"The Sprawl" ws debuted with the rest of the record in 1988. It was played nightly during the '88-'89 tour but layed to rest until 2007 with the re-release of Daydream Nation.

video to come....

Silver Rocket

2008-11-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

The second song on Daydream Nation is called "Silver Rocket."

There is a surprise in every song. Sonic Youth finally managed to write a "punk" song. Silver Rocket begins with an apreggiated but dives right into a two chord riff. The song is tight, and gets the point across...but then...

In typical Sonic fashion there MUST BE A BREAKDOWN and then a RETURN. Only this time, the sudden onslaught of noise comes at you when you least expect it. Its almost as if the band falls apart only to regain itself in the return to the chorus.

Silver Rocket is an indication that Sonic Youth is not only perfecting their song writing but managing to stretch their legs and "jam" a bit. Daydream represents the culmination of 6 years of musical evolution. Everything that is Sonic Youth from this point is thrown into Daydream Nation, Silver Rocket is pop, punk, noise, art, and attitude.

Silver Rocket was the song Sonic Youth performed for their first ever national television debut on the Night Music show. Don Fleming joins them on keys.

Silver Rocket was played mostly during the '88-'89 tour. It dropped off the setlist until 2000. It then saw periodic plays until 2006, but was being geared up for the 2007 Daydream Nation tour.

Video to come...

Teenage Riot

2008-10-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

The first song on Sonic Youth's 5th LP is called "Teenage Riot."

"This song made the band famous whether they liked it or not." - Byron Coley.

By the end of 1987 and a 12 week tour taking the band across America and back to Europe, the band settled into a nest of extreme prolific production. With the creative genius of Mike Watt on their side, the band churned out a full-length LP filled with noises and cover songs called "Ciccone Youth: The Whitey Album." (This record will not be discussed in this blog.) The interim period between Sister and Daydream Nation was to be one of experimentation and writing. Lee Renaldo made a solo record along with Steve Shelley. The band was certain their next record had to match up with the cyber-punk blast of noise that made up Sister, but had few ideas where to take the music other than, as Thurston says, "extend our jams and our songs." A double LP was in thought and future sight.

"Teenage Riot" represents an era of music that ws bursting to be noticed. By 1988, bands like the Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr, and Mudhoney all made their mark on the indie scene blasting through small town after small club. The Europeans seemed to the only ones listening, but the pot was too hot and eventually popped. "Teenage Riot" represents an era before grunge was grunge, J Macsis was a guitar god, and Kurt Cobain was just some guy from Aberdeen. "Teeenage Riot" marks the begininng of that era.

The song depicts some slacker type guitar player as the president of the United States. 1988 was a time of change in America. Ronad Reagan finished his 8 year run as President and George Bush was elected in a landslide win. Life was good and plentiful for the band, there was just one problem....they did not have a label.

The powerful juggernaut known as SST had begun to spin its wheels. Many artists were dropped and some never contacted. When Lee was informed SST would need more time and money to release the as of yet untitled record, Lee and Thurston thought it best to seek other options and try to get the record a national release. The European label ENIGMA that had put the first 4 records out in Europe, opened a American office in New York City called Blast First. Within 6 weeks, Sonic Youth had a deal and a distribution through CBS. The same company that put IRS on the map. This widespread distribution which would make the record available in the USSR, Japan, and Australia for the first time, would eventually lead to a major label deal in 1990.

"Teenage Riot" boasts a new tuning Lee rrefers to as a "split G." Oddly, This tuning was rarely used and this song seems to be the only one on the record.

Debuted in 1988 with all the rest of the tunes. Teenage Riot has enjoyed a good run since. It ws layed to rest from '97-'99 but then resurfaced as either an encore or an opener on the 2000 NYC Ghosts and Flowers tour. Since 2000 the song has been played in and out sets. I managed to see them do this one in '04 in the middle of the set, only to find out it had only been played a handful of times on the tour. At a show in 2003, everyone kept yelling for it and Lee said "we played it last night, it was great!" and launched into Kool Thing....funny.....2007 saw the performace of the entire Daydream Nation album. I was there in Chicago to witness the greatness. It was also the first time I had seen the band begin the song with the "spirit desire" portion, which was rarely done in the past.

video to come...

White Cross

2008-10-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

The last song on the LP Sister is called "White Cross."

"Burning Inside!!!" Thats a strong start to a song that finishes a record. I have always thought, is there truly an end? Sister represents the idea that music is made for the future and not for the present. The "cybe-punk" mentality used through out the entire record gives the album a used and worn out futuristic sound. It is no wonder "White Cross" is the last song on the record.

The lyrics are simple and short, which is often a quality that the band uses, allowing them to explore the music more. It doesn't much lyrical content to make this song work:

Burning inside
I cross myself but if it doesn't help
because i'm not smart enough
i'm digging into white hot
learning not to lie
we cross it out and stay away

the song repeats the first two lines after an enormous build up and breakdown. Making good to end the record but the song kicks back in and has a abrupt ending. That's it? Want more? No noise jam? Thurston makes many references to his catholic upbringing. Others being "Catholic Block" and "Tuff Gnarl." He makes statements about trying to find a sense of security in the lyrics, trying to "cross it out" but its not helping. He's learning "not to lie" or sin but has trouble discerning between what is right and what is wrong, or is there a difference? He chooses in the end to stay away, because he's not smart enough or too young to understand and could possibly return after some experience. Remember, Thurston left home at 17 to find a whole new world...

"White Cross" was debuted in 1984 in a different form and came in and out of setlists in '86. Being one of the shortest songs, it was often extended with a longer jam in the middle. Setlists often list the song as "White Kross." Just like "Kotton Krown" was used with K's. The 2002-03 Murray Street tour saw a return into regular rotation, although the song has been pulled out many many times since the '87 Sonic Sister Tour. 2002-03 setlists spell the song with a "K," and was often used as an opener or secong to "Bull In The Heather." That's a weird transition!

On Hiatus

2008-09-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have not made a post since August 19th. I have had to take a small break because of the busy stuff I have been doing. Now that school has started, the brewery is looking better and my wedding is over, I can turn some attention to this large undertaking.

Posts will return with "White Cross" and "Teenage Riot" beginning September 12th. Most of Daydream Nation, Goo and Dirty have already been written, so I will try to put up a new post every day.

Thanks for reading!!

Enjoy this video from 2005! Thurston is funny........

Cotton Crown

2008-08-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

The second to last song on Sonic Youth's 4th L Sister is called "Cotton Crown."

This song represents another first for the band, a duet! Kim and Thurston must be one of the most famous couples in rock history, strange how it took 4 records to make a duet happen. Strangely enough "Cotton Crown" is not a typical love song.

The first line of the song makes a declaration of love "love has come to stay in all the way" as if love has come and gone all this time. "feels like a wish coming true, feels like an angel dreaming of you." Ok maybe it is a typical love song. Not something easily pulled off though. This song represents love for the city that bore the music the band has been playing, New York City. A bond that can't be broken and a city that has yet to fall. "Angels are dreaming of you" could that the city is being watched over and taken care of and wearing a "cotton crown" could be Thurston taking responsibility for the city's well being. King of New York?

Typically sung only by Thurston when played live. "Cotton Crown" often gets spelled as "kotton krown" on setlists. The song was used frequently as an opener during the 2002 Murrary Street tour. "Cotton Crown" never really went on hiatus either. It often popped up in sets from 1990-1996. 2000-03 saw the song back again in rotation.

video soon!

Pacific Coast Highway

2008-08-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

Track 3 on side 2 of Sister is called "Pacific Coast Highway."

People love horror films. slasher films, serial killers, and supernatural murderers. Does Sonic Youth like horror films? I have always gotten that impression from the song "Pacific Coast Highway."

One of Kim's darker compositions, it depicts the story of a serial road killer told from the killer's point of view. "Come on get in the car let's go for ride some where, i'll make you feel real good you'll make me feel so crazy."

This song has a sort of "mellow" break in the end right before the final chorus. I like to think of it more as a "lounge act." A few moments to let the listener calm down before the final end. The dream like guitar sound makes you feel as if you are running from the killer himself and manage to find a few moments of peace where you feel as if he's gone. But not for long!!

The band has a tendency to title a song before they REALLY title a song. "Pacific Coast Highway" appears on the track listing of Sister but the liner notes has an additional listing that titles it "PCH." The spelled out version could have been a working titles because live sets list the song as "PCH."

Sonic Youth has always had a way of playing nothing but the current release live and then on the next tour only play a song or two from the previous record. PCH was last played in '87 before it came back as a regular from '93-'96. Often used as a encore. A ten year gap went by and PCH got some play in 2006! With many of the older forgotten tunes getting another go around in 2006, it is no surprise this little gem got resurrected.

no video. sorry!

Hot Wire My Heart

2008-08-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Track 2 on side 2 of Sister is a cover song called "Hot Wire My Heart."

Sonic Youth's first officially released cover song! Originally recorded by the punk band Crime and written by Johnny Strike. Unlike the Kim Fowly cover of "Bubblegum" that appeared as the b-side to Starpower, the band took the time to learn this song! One of the few songs in this era that were played in standard tuning.

Rarely played live. Last known performance is 9-30-87.

Tuff Gnarl

2008-08-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

Side 2 of Sister begins with one of my favorite songs "Tuff Gnarl."

"Tuff Gnarl" was an ever evolving song. Some of the working titles were "Sea Smart" and "Really Fast." The band manages to give youa great image lyrically and then crash it down with a noise jam. Typical? Yes. But "Tuff Gnarl" is a song that belongs to this collection.

The song depicts a sort of punk rocker or hard core kid coming of age. "He's running on a tufff gnarl in his head, he's got a fatal erection in his head, he's really smart and he's really fast, he's got a hard tit killer fuck in head." Thurston uses images of sex to describe this coming age. The character in this little story seems to have discovered the joys of sex and is trying to channel the urges somewhere else. Hardcore advocates were typically straight edge which usually meant no smoking, drinking, drugs of any kind and even no sex. The young man finds solace in music as a way to calm down "mental tool box explodes in music creates utopia, gnarls out the nerves." Thurston even makes a Big Black reference by using the words "sonic pig pile."

"Tuff Gnarl" has not been played since 1987. This is upsetting because its one of my favorite songs. Maybe it will make a triumphant return someday.

Funny performance from 10-13-87.

Pipeline/Kill Time

2008-08-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

The 5th song on the LP Sister is called "Pipeline/Kill Time."

Like many records to come, Lee takes the vocals! By this time Lee's writing has bene evolving and his songs have begun to take shape from simple spoken word noise jaunts to full blown melodic noise jaunts.

This song has several parts to it. After each set of lyrics a different break in between verses is used until the song does a build up, but doesn't come to a crashing end! The then moves into an entirely different song accompanied by a MOOG. Thurston claims that the band began trying to extend out some of the jams in places but "Pipeline" allowed for an extra noise jam which ebcame "killtime" which could easily be what the band calls it, just killing time? filling up space?

Pipeline/Kill Time" wasn't exactly a staple in the set in '87 and was often "fucked up." Lee explained later the band could never get it right and he could never remember the words. The song also could have had a short life due to the fact it is the most reminiscent of the "Confusion" days. Last known performance was on 10-16-87.

Video from 10-13-87.

Stereo Sanctity

2008-08-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

The 4th song on the LP Sister is called "Stereo Sanctity."

Sister is just like any other Sonic Youth record in that its plagued with its own "sound" issues. EVOL (as I mentioned before) had a very hollow reverberated sound. Sister claims a more muffled sound. In fact, one of the attracting factors in using Sear Sound Studio to produce Sister was the fact the soundboard was an old 24 channel board that still used vacumm tubes. Thurston claims you can "hear" the tubes humming in several places of the songs. In fact, the sound of the electricity pumping through the tubes can be heard ALL OVER the record. Total silence is actually in the key of A-flat, I wonder key tubes hum in? The guitars on Sister get a more "raw" sound with some grit. The drums in fact come out muffled. Despite the bands best efforts to "cool off" the drum sound, they came in too warm! make sense?

"Stereo Sanctity" could easily be a pre-cursor to grunge. Its fast and abrasive and leaves little time for thought. Again, we are dealing with the idea of "cyber-punk" or futuristic punk rock. The grunge explosion is only a few years away. The drums are very pounding while the guitar utilizes a more noise riff rather that the three previous songs that have recognizable riffs. The breakdown though is quite melodic and creative.

The lyrics are what drive this song the most. Alot like "Schizophrenia," this song takes inspiration from writer Phillip K. Dick. "I can't get laid cause everyone is dead!" is one of many exact quotes from Radio Free Albemuth.

Although is was performed nightly in 1987, the song never really made it past the initial touring outing for Sister. It came back briefly in 1993 but has not been played since.

This video is another from 10-13-87.

Beauty Lies In The Eye

2008-08-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Track 3 on the LP Sister is called "Beauty Lies in the Eye."

Lee uses an acoustic guitar on this one. That should be an indication of where the song could go or not go. "Beauty" follows two upbeat songs and why? Why place the exotic violent love ballad third? For the first time, Sonic Youth actually takes some time to place the songs in a cohesive running order.

The music is slow and loud. Lee composed the music using 4 guitars all in F#F#C#C#C#C#. A wall of sound type method was used layering each guitar along with some droning on the top two strings. The track was completed solely by Lee but Kim provided the vocals. Kim sings a melody along with the C# strings and paints the picture of a violent love story. "Do you want to see the explosions in my eye?" she asks in a very powerful manner as if the person the question is being directed to is in for something terrible. Power of woman?

When played live, Thurston played bass, Lee played guitar and Kim sang. Steve got a break. The live version on "Hold That Tiger" bootleg is rather different mostly because of the fewer sounds from the band. It still holds up but not enough to come back into the set. "Beauty" has not been played since 10-24-87.

The band made a video for this song. It can be found on the Screaming Fields of Sonic Love video. I found it on YOUtube but it won't let me post it. If you are that interested in seeing it, just check it out on youtube.

This video is from 9-14-87 Atlanta, Ga.

Catholic Block

2008-08-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

The second song on Sister is called "Catholic Block."

"Sister" was recorded at NYC's Sear Sound Studio. Sear Sound would also be the home to Experimental Jet Set Trash No Star and Rather Ripped. During the rehearsal stage of the album he band began not only focusing on making their songs more structural and cohesive, but they even came up with a system for putting a song together. The bad would number every part of the song with a letter staring from A to Z. The charts would be laid out on the floor or taped to the wall. Some songs went all the way to F! "Catholic Block" went only to "C" but Lee admits that several songs on the record had parts removed. The band got so into "building" a song they sometimes built too much! This same process would be used during the making of Daydream Nation.

"Catholic Block" begins with a low sound of guitar plugging in. The song is the most "single" sounding on the album. Once again, a "hooky" riff is used to drive the song along with a definable verse and chorus. A breakdown is used but doesn't "noise out." Its used mainly as a transitional part of the song.

Thurston wrote the song based upon his catholic upbringing, but mostly in a joke sense of humor. Thurston often felt that catholic school boys and girls were the most punk because of their rebellious manner. Essentially, he's singing from the point of view of a rebellious teen punk! Youth?

This song uses two tunings. Lee is laying DDDDAA and Thurston is using F#F#F#F#eb.

Catholic Block saw its first appearance in April '87 and became absent from the set until 1992. The song was played regularly in'95-'96 but began collecting dust until the 2003 Murray Street tour where it was played almost nightly. It springs up in live sets every now and then.

The first video is from 10-13-87 Madison, Wi. The second is from 8-8-06 Toronto.

Schizophrenia

2008-08-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

The first song on Sonic Youth's 4th LP "Sister" is called "Schizophrenia."

By the end of 1986, Sonic Youth saw themselves extremely busy with a nearly 6 month tour schedule. November saw the end of EVOL and the beginning of a new era for Sonic Youth. Little time was taken in between albums as the band along with Mike Watt put together an experimental piece titled "Ciccone Youth." Sonic Youth's evolving appreciation for pop music began to not only grow in their record collection but also in their own music. Instead of rejecting pop music, they embraced it in their own way. Prince, Micheal Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and especially Madonna were all in heavy rotation. It was only a matter of time Sonic Youth was capable of channelling those elements into their music.

The word "cyber-punk" had been thrown around by Thurston at the start of 1987. Sonic Youth had branched out of their avant garde days to arrive to a newer medium of punk rock. It wasn't just punk rock, it was something else, music not for today but for the future. "Cyber-Punk" was used to describe the sounds of "Sister."

"Schizphrenia" starts with a really upbeat drum intro. Almost 80's. But then again, its the 80's right? SO why not? Who cares if Sonic Youth wants to actually keep a beat now? The song also contains the bands first ever "hook." A riff that not only carries the song but the vocal melody when Thurstons sings (and yes sings) "I went away to see a an old friend of mine, her sister came over, she was out of her mind!" The song then switches to a Kim part with her singing "the future is static, its that we have." The theme for the record is set in the first song. In a matter of 4 minutes the band manages to give you a glimpse of a newer kind of Sonic Youth, alot like EVOL, songs YOU CAN AND WILL REMEMBER!

Lyrically, the song is based on the life of Phillip K. Dick, a science fiction writer that Thurston has been obsessing over for a few years. Dick is most well known for the avant garde science fiction novels "The Scanner Darkly," "Radio Free Albemuth," "Man in the High Castle," and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Thurston learned a bit about his life from Wharton Tiers and tied his life into the song referring to fraternal twin "Jane" who died shortly after her birth. Thurston manages to remove himself and place his own thoughts into the mind of Dick and speak in a first person point of view. This is when Sonic Youth begins to leave their abstract lyrical thinking behind.

The working title was called "Sister," and was often announced that way for years. Alternate title maybe?

"Schizophrenia" was debut in April 1987 and became the bands opener for the entire '87 tour. The song became a staple in the live set especially during the breakdown. The song was not played during the '88-'89 Daydream Nation tour but came back into regular play in 1990. The song disappeared from '96-'99 but has been played quite frequently since 2000, mostly as an opener or an encore song. I have seen the band play this song twice. Quite possibly my favorite Sonic Youth track. On May 2nd 2001, During Kim's part, she pointed at me during she sang "i could tuck you in and we could talk about it." I was flabbergasted!

This video is from 1987. Not sure on the date.

Expressway To Yr Skull

2008-08-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

The last song on Sonic Youth's third LP is called "Expressway To Yr Skull."

EVOL has been a record of many firsts. "Expressway" could easily be considered Sonic Youth's first epic opus. "Expressway" would also be the staple closer for many years to come.

The song begins with a rather off beat strum but launches into a grand scale intro. The bright sounding chord progression gives off an almost happy feel when Thurston sings "we're gonna kill the california girls!" The keeps the upbeat pace going strong while melding into another Lee riff that sings the chorus "mystery train freeway plane expressway to yr skull". This doesn't ;ast long as the band takes the song into double time launching into quite possibly the best orchestrated noise jam to date. Hanging on a dronign F# chord then descending back into and E, a hollow vortex of noise is soon to follow. Quite and calm, the song ends and leaves you with sound of echoes. The subject of the song has been disputed for years, but with Sonic Youth you never really know. The song was written during the bands first visit to the west coast, so you know......

EVOL was released with rather mysterious etchings. Some copies of the vinyl had "expressway to yr skull" or "we're gonna kill the california girls" etched into the sides of the record. The track name of "expressway" on the back cover names the song as "Madonna Sean and Me" while the listing on the inside of the sleeve reads "The Crucifixion of Sean Penn." The song has always appeared as "Expressway" on setlists but was not officially listed until the released of Screaming Fields of Sonic Love in 1991.

"Expressway" was debuted on 6-12-1985 in the middle of the Bad Moon Rising tour. The song was also played on 8-1-1985 Columbus, Ohio. This video was released through Atavistic and was considered to be the first known performance of the song until the 6-12-85 video surfaced. This also one of the first songs written with Steve Shelley.

"Expressway" became a staple at the end of the set from '86 til '88. The song rested a few years and then came back in 1990 during the Goo tour. "Expressway" can also be found on the 1991: The Year Punk Broke video. Once again it rested a few years only to be played again in 1993. "Expressway" collected dust during the years '95-'99. The song has come back into the many times since 2000, but got constant play in 2004 and 2006. I got to see this song played in Atlanta on 8-21-04. Jim played an accordion during the final noise jam! Pretty amazing!

Only three songs from EVOL have continued to be played throughout the years "Tom Violence," "Shadow of a Doubt," and "Expressway." Maybe the band will bring "Starpower" back?

This video is from The Bonnaroo Festival in 2006 and features Stephen Malkumus from Pavement on vocals.

This next video is from the aforementioned 8-1-85 video. This tape can also be found at the Middle Tennessee State University library!

Secret Girl

2008-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Track 4 on Side 2 of EVOL is called "Secret Girl."

Secret door opening? The start of the track is quite spooky. The song begins with some loud hollow noises that sound as if a box or door is being opened to reveal something beautiful. The slow piano sounds like a music box with Kim's soft vocals over them. The listener begins to unravel the mystery of the song "the boy who enjoys invisibility, the pleasure is everlasting."

Thurston recorded the piano part for the "Made In The USA" soundtrack. The instrumental was slowed down and added Kim's vocals for EVOL. Listed as "Secret Girls" on the vinyl. The piano was often played through the PA while Kim sang over it. The boys typically took a break or provided melodic feedback to the tape.

"Secret Girl" was debuted sometime in 1985 after the recording of the "Made In The USA" film. It was played as an instrumental until it was re-recorded with vocals for EVOL. "Secret Girl" has made a few appearances post-EVOL but has not been played live since 1993.

Guess what? Another video from 11-3-86!!!

Marilyn Moore

2008-07-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Track 3 on Side 2 of EVOL is called "Marilyn Moore."

Strange noises. That describes "Marilyn Moore." Even though Sonic Youth has dived into a world of structured songwriting, they still managed to get some new sounds out of their instruments. "Marilyn Moore" employs the use of a tape delay a lot like "Shadow of a Doubt". Lee begins a somewhat melodic pick scrape and slide to create a riff. Thurston's hollow yet poetic yell carries the melody of the song while Lee continues to use the pick scrape delay.

Lydia Lunch wrote the lyrics. This would Sonic Youth's third collaboration with Lunch. More to come.

Often used as the set opener during the '86 EVOL tour but has not been played since 11-22-86.

Video from 11-3-86.

Death To Our Friends

2008-07-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

Track 2 on Side 2 of EVOL is an instrumental called "Death To Our Friends."

So far, a Sonic Youth record wouldn't be complete without an instrumental track. The difference between this song and other instrumentals is that "Death To Our Friends" lacked lyrics and it just stayed the way it was. Plus, this song was actually played live for a change.

Lydia Lunch once said her favorite thing about Sonic Youth is the build ups in all the songs. "Death To Our Friends" takes advantage of using the "build up" theory by starting with a simple riff and speeding up and then slowing down. Another progression starts and then builds up again, starting another progression using the build up then slow down mold. In 1985, the song contained the lyrics to "Marilyn Moore."

The song uses the classic F#F#F#F#EB and has not been played live since the end of the '86 european tour.

Another video from 11-3-86.

Green Light

2008-07-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

Side 2 of EVOL starts with "Green Light."

A typical Sonic Youth song. Thurston and Lee build the song around a basic riff while Kim and Steve carry the song. There is no "real" chorus in the song but Thurston repeats "I see a green light!" after every few lines. In a typical Sonic fashion, the song builds and builds until it falls into a dark black hole of never ending reverb, something the band is becoming known for and is able to pull off quite well.

Reverb is also what makes this record sound a little more unique to the others. Lee began using a tape delay unit to get the deep vortex type sounds. The drums and vocals are very "roomy" and everything either chimes or rings. Perfect for this band. The use of reverb even improves the vocal performances making them quite spooky, For "Green Light" Thurstons usual spoken melody style of singing makes him sound more like he's really singing. Echo?!

"Green Light" was the first song composed with drummer Steve Shelley and one of the first to be played live before the record was made. The original title was "Green Love" and was often used as the set opener during the '86 tour. "Green Light" has not been resurrected since 1987.

This is another video from St. Louis 11-3-86:

Taking A Break

2008-07-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

My posts have been quite sparse these last two weeks. I have been extremely busy and haven't had much time to think about the blog. A break is needed.

The Blog will return on Monday July 21st with "Green Light". The rest of EVOL will be finished by the end of next week also.

Thank you for reading and sorry for the delay on posts.

~Kelly

In The Kingdom #19

2008-07-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

Track 4 on EVOL is called "In The Kingdom #19"

This is Lee Renaldo's first lead vocal appearance and first vocal of any kind since singing back up on "I Dreamed I Dreamed."

Much like "I'm Insane" and "Justice Is Might", Kingdom #19 reads like a poem. In fact it is a poem. Mike Watt provides bass on this song while Thurston noises it up with some new effect pedals. He also says he "plays Lee's amp" whatever that means. Instead of just improvising, and then laying down the spoken word, the band played along to Lee's long winded poem. The full piece can be found on lee's book "Road Movies."

Like many of Lee's poems, this one is rather dark and depressing. It depicts a car crash and the after of the dying and surviving victims.

The screaming, crackling and angry yelling is from Thurston setting off firecrackers in the vocal booth while Lee was reading. The track was saved and cut up for the song. Lee was so angry he almost quit the band.

This gem has never been performed live.

Starpower

2008-07-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Track on EVOL is called "Starpower."

Why do great song stem from tragic events? On November 22 1985, Minutemen guitarist D. Boone died in a car crash. He was 27 years old. His best friend Mike Watt fell into a deep depression and traveled to New York City to be with his friends Sonic Youth. Shortly after arriving, the band started work on EVOL.

Watt was invited to come stay with Kim and Thurston and to sit in and hang out during the EVOL sessions. It was during this time the band convinced Watt to continue playing as it was the only way to heal himself emotionally from the tragic loss.

Watt made three major contributions to the EVOL record. The first was the song "Starpower." The intial riff came from Watt himself jamming on one of Thurston's bass guitars. Te song was worked out and Thurston provided the lyrics. During this time Thurston had turned Watt onto pop music such as Madonna and Bruce Springstein. Watt claims "Starpower" came from him jamming with band trying to write a pop song. The influence of Madonna gave way into Sonic Youth's recording. Alot like the first two tracks "Tom Violence" and "Shadow of a Doubt" the song contains a catchy riff with a verse/chorus structure with a start and finish. Kim later claimed the song was inspired by Joan Jett. But who knows....

The song is presented in the universal Sonic tuning of F#F#F#F#EB.

Even though Thurston wrote the words, it was fitting that Kim sing it in her dark, yet sexy drone voice. Its a love song. Live, the song was sung by Thurston and during the '86 tour with fIREhOSE, Watt joined the band onstage for the song.

"Starpower" has not been played since 11-23-1986. Its a shame. Maybe the band we revive it on their next tour? They have proven that anything is possible......

Tis video features members of fIREhOSE playing horns and Mike Watt on bass. 11-3-86.

Shadow of A Doubt

2008-07-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

Track 2 on Sonic Youth's 3rd LP is called "Shadow of a Doubt."

Towards the end of 1985, Lee and Thurston began working on new tunings for the upcoming record. Thurston and Lee sometimes would play the same song in two different tunings in order to expand the palette of sounds for any single song."Shadow Of A Doubt" is one of those songs.

Most of the record uses the F#F#GGAA tuning, but this song also incorporates the F#F#F#F#EB tuning we discussed with "Death Valley '69." The band also uses a tape delay machine to create that creepy staccato intro.

This is one of the few songs in the sonic catalogue where the lyrics and the title are very obvious in origin. Kim wrote the lyrics word for word based on the Alfred Hitchcock film "Strangers on a Train" but takes the titles from a different Hitchcock film. Kim says at the time the band was really into old black and white Hitchcock films and its no secret that the lyrics are exactly the movie! The band adds a few interesting twists to the song with a very emotional breakdown of Kim yelling "it was just a dream! it was just a dream!"

May 22nd 1998 saw the return of this song after a 12 year hiatus. The song was also played nightly on the 2002-03 Murrary Street tour and has had a few revivals since. I was lucky to witness this one in 2003!!

This video is taken from 11-3-1986 in St Louis. Notice the Janet Jackson playing in the beginning?? Sonic Youth was famous for playing Top 40 pop in between song during a guitar and tuning change! More on that later!!

Tom Violence

2008-07-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

The first song on Sonic Youth's 3rd LP is called "Tom Violence."

1986 was the turning point in Sonic Youth's career. After a busy touring schedule of both sides on the Atlantic, Sonic Youth took a few weeks to catch their breath before starting on their 3rd LP EVOL. At the end of the of the '85 european tour, Bob Bert announced he was leaving the band, this time for good. Steve Shelley was the first and only drummer to audition, and played his first show having only a few practices. As Thurston states "something clicked, and thats why we've had the same drummer since."

Another big change occurred during this time, the band chose to leave Homestead and join the ranks of SST. A change that was not easily made and left many at Homestead feeling "dumped." Gerard Cosley took it personal.

EVOL is a dark record, and the opening "Tom Violence" does its job by getting that across. The band was interested in pop music at the time and began writing songs in a more traditional format. "Tom Violence" is presented with a verse that repeats a tag line as a chorus and then comes equipped with a traditional Sonic breakdown only to return to the original verse to end the song.

The word "violence" is used very differently, referring to the protagonist "life." Thurston croons "my violence is a dream, a real dream." "I left home for experience, carved Suk for honesty on my chest." One could think Thurston is writing about himself and his experiences of playing music and leaving home to go to New York. The asks the question is he made the decision yet doesn't really seem to care if it truly was the right decision. Some people think the song is about Tom Verlaine from the New York band Television.

This song is presented in another classic Sonic tuning of F#F#GGAA. This tuning is used often on EVOL and the next few records.

This song remains constant at Sonic Youth shows. One of the only three that are still played from this album. I have been lucky to witness this neat little tune three times.

I could not find a decent video of the song but found a video where someone had dubbed the original track. Here you go:

Death Valley '69

2008-06-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

The last song on Sonic Youth's second LP Bad Moon Rising is called "Death Valley '69."

A hit? Hit it!!!

This song could easily be Sonic Youth's first real "hit". The song was released as a single before Bad Moon Rising was recorded. The more raw 7" featured no vocals from Lydia Lunch and was track to a 2-track machine by Wharton Tiers. The "demo" is much more slower than the album version.

Co-written by Lydia Lunch, Sonic Youth finally managed to write a pop song! It features a normal verse, chorus, breakdown/bridge and then back into the verse/chorus for a final finish!

As stated before, Bad Moon Rising was the first Sonic Youth record to feature full songs with alternate tunings. Death Valley 69 is the first song to feature the F#F#F#F#EB tuning. This is open of the longest surviving tunings which is still used today. Thurston was more prone to alternate tunings mostly because he had a hard time playing chords with his large hands. He preferred to jsut play barre chords with his thumb and alternate open tuning made that possible and gave the band a large palate of sounds to use.

This song was played almost nightly until the 1988 Daydream Nation tour. It was layed to rest until 1998's Thousand Leaves tour where it was the last song in EVERY set. The song has not been played since 2000 but was part of the bands sound check at several shows in 2006.

The first video was Sonic Youth's first music video directed by the great Richard Kern. The second is from the Gila Monster Jamboree video on 1-5-85.

Justice Is Might

2008-06-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Bad Moon Rising seems to be full of more experimental songs that the average Sonic Youth record. "Justice Is Might" opens up with a spoken word written by Lydia Lunch but Thurstons vocal was recorded on cassette and then chopped up Sgt. Pepper style! Guitar noises along with some basic drums move this song very quickly but ends with soem amplifier noises provided by Thurston. This song, like many on this record hide Sonic Youth's potential songwriting evolution. Maybe thats why Bad Moon Rising is my least favorite?

This song has not been played since October 1984. Not one of my favorites.

I'm Insane

2008-06-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

The fifth song on Bad Moon Rising is called "I'm Insane."

I'm Insane sounds like a noise collage more than a song. Bob Bert provides more steady pounding drums while Thurston and Lee make some crashing noises. A bass line can be heard under all the chaos. A song actually starts to form when Thurston begins his "speaking" vocal style. A melody from the lyrics carries the song from the chaos that it starts with to an actual structured peice.

Sonic Youth began trying to write more structured work, but I'm Insane is a good example of a track begins with a mess but slowly evolves into a more structured piece. Like some of Lee's songs, this song reads more like a poetry piece which requires more of a spoken word approach. On the Gila Monster Jamboree video, Thurston just reads the lyrics from a set of cards. Porbably too many to remember?

This video is from the The Gila Monster Jamboree VHS from 1-5-85.

Ghost Bitch

2008-06-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Track 4 on Bad Moon Rising is called "Ghost Bitch."

Which direction? Forward? Backward? The great thing about Sonic Youth in this '84-'85 era is that the band not only made great leaps forward but managed to retain the darkness and style from previous efforts. Kim refers to this time as a "goth" period, where they were purposely trying to keep the music and lyrics dark and even creepy.

"Ghost Bitch" sounds like an outtake from Wharton Tiers two track session and starts off with almost two minutes of improv noise. Bob Bert uses one of his signature tribal style drums beats while Kim does a spoken word style vocal. Even the song is nothing but a large mess of noise, Kim hints at a small touch of melody to her emerging vocal stylings. Step forward? Step Back? New ground? Like I said before, Bad Moon Rising serves as a bridge in an EVOLving band.

Thurston plays a tuning of CCGGA#A# with a drumstick jammed in the 7th fret while Lee plays the same tuning only with an acoustic guitar!?!?!

Debuted in October 1984, this song had a longer life span than several of the tracks and was played regularly until the end of 1986 EVOL tour.

This video is taken from 8-1-85.

I Love Her All The Time

2008-06-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

&tSonic Youth finally managed to write a true love song by the fall of 1984, its the third track on Bad Moon Rising and is perfectly titled "I Love Her All The Time.";div>

One chord. thats all. Sonic Yout manages to get the job done by droning on one chord! Lee repeats a riff with a G#G#D#D#cb tuning that the bass mimimicks while Thurston croons the lines "she crawls into my mind, twisting through my nerves" The end of each verse is accompanied by noise break which leads back into the drone riff and verse. No wave? noise? what happened to structure?

Bad Moon Rising serves as a bridge from Confusion to Evol. I Lover Her All The Time is an example of a song that has an arrangement that could have been on Confusion, but a melody that could have been for Evol. The band is still all about noise and this song proves they could write structure and orchestrate chaos.

This song came at a time when Thurston and Kim got married in 1984. It can be seen as an artsy ode to his loved one. Lee married around this time as well. Love was certainly in the air but in a more Sonic style.

1991: The Year Punk Broke has a great live version of this song. It has not been played live since 1995.

Here is a live video from the Gila Monster Jamboree in the Mojave Desert 1-5-85.

Society Is A Hole

2008-06-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

The second track on Bad Moon Rising is called "Society Is A Hole."

This song begins in a segue from "Brave Men Run" and features a drony vocal performance from Thurston. During this Reagan period, the band became somewhat obsessed with singing about the degradation of American culture. Like early hardcore, the lyrics are political and strive to make a point of mapping out no where we are in 1985, but where society as a whole (pun?) is headed. Thurston says "we're living in pieces, I want to live in peace" it almost seems like a plea.

This song was debuted in 8-14-84 but has not been performed since sometime in 1985.

Brave Men Run

2008-06-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

The first track on Sonic Youth's second LP "Bad Moon Rising" is called "Brave Men Run.

The band began production for Bad Moon Rising in September 1984 and ended towards the end of October at Martin Bisi's studio Before Christ. The album utilized a 24 track tape machine which was a step up from the 4-track machine used for Confusion Is Sex. The record would also be released by atleast 3 different labels, Blast First and Rough Trade in Europe and Homestead in America.

"Brave Men Run" sounds like an epic intro to a record. The song is only 3:37 long but bashes away an intro that 1:37 leaving Kim's vocal performance at the end. The song uses a typical Sonic song approach by creating a large build up and then crashing it down at the end with only the low hum of the bass.

The song represents one of the first songs written in an alternate tuning, F#F#F#F#eb. Many more songs for years to come would be presented in this tuning.

The song was debuted in Europe in '84 but has not seen the light of day since October 1985.

This video is from the Gila Monster Jamboree in the Mojave Desert 1-5-85.

Early American

2008-06-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

The third and final song on side-B of Kill Yr Idols is song called "Early American."

Even though the band was trying to move away from free form jamming, Early American represent an "orchestrated" jam. This track could have easily been left over from the "Confusion" sessions but recorded during the 2 track sessions months later.

Thurston has commented that this is one of favorite recordings the band has done, strangely, it was only performed on the European tour of November 1983. It was used as a segue into "Burning Spear" and can be heard on the Live In Venlo Holland bootleg.

Brother James

2008-06-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

The second song on side B of the Kill Yr Idols EP is called "Brother James."

Not much information in this song exists and I'm not really sure what it is about. Sonic Youth has been known to draw influence from other outside sources but "Brother James" has some surreal lyrical content. "Take my hand he said to me" starts the song. I have always thought this song was about drugs and being seduced into the power of being in an altered state of mind.The line "brother james gave it to me" being repeated leads me to believe this when the next line says "take my hand you might as well, were going straight to hell!"

"Brother James" has remained in the live set since 1983. Out of the 9 shows I have attended, the song has been played 5 times. Pretty constant huh? "Burning Spear" is the only other song from this era that has survived throughout the years but does not get as much play as "Brother James." Reason? lets face it, its their best song from this era and represents evverything the band was trying to accomplish in its early years.

This video is from 8-27-04 from the Sonic Nurse Tour in Paris.

Kill Yr Idols

2008-06-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

Shortly after finishing the LP "Confusion Is Sex", Sonic Youth went back to Warton Tiers to record 3 brand new songs. The sessions were done in two days with a complete live take that was recorded straight to 2 track. The end result was the Kill Yr Idols EP.

With a European release of Confusion looming ahead, a German label called Zensor decided to release the EP ahead of time in order to get some hype for the LP. "Protect Me You" and "Shaking Hell" were offered up on the A-side as a preview of Confusion. The song "Kill Yr Idols" was the first song on side B.

Its all about press. Thurston prefers any press wether its good or bad but after a slandering remark saying that avant garde music is good in theory but never comes to life put Thurston is a tale spin. He then wrote a letter to the Village Voice saying "before every show we walk down 32st street and suck Glenn Branca's dick to take in all the genius"

The song says "i don't know why you want to impress Christgua, let that shit die, kill yr idols, sonic death, its the end of the world your confusion is sex!" Thurston meant this as a come back to Christgua writing and wrong assessment of the band and of the whole art scene in general. Sort of a "we're not gonna take it" done in a SONIC way. The original title was "I Killed Christgua With My Big Fucking Dick"

"Kill Yr Idols" quickly became one of Sonic Youth's defining songs. The verse chorus structure shows the band moving in a more "song" structure and not relying on extended noise jams. The song was done in two takes live, a method Lee wished they had done for the entire Confusion record.

Lee Is Free

2008-05-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

The last song on Confusion Is Sex is called "Lee Is Free."

"Lee Is Free" is an instrumental recorded at Lee's apartment on cassette. It features some guitar experiment and alot of string bending. The track closes out the record. There is no record of this song ever being played live but might have been used inbetween songs while switching guitars alot like "Freezer Burn."

"Confusion" was completed sometime in April of '83 and released in September 1983. The band embarked on a tour with Glenn Branca and made their first trip to Europe in November. During this time, some new songs that didn't make it onto "Confusion" emerged in the and would become the "Kill Yr Idols" EP.

"Confusion" was very well recieved but the abnd was plagued with comparisons to Branca. Their next effort, "Bad Moon Rising" will be an attempt to break the no wave mold.

Making The Nature Scene

2008-05-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

The second to last song on Confusion Is Sex is called "Making The Nature Scene."

"Making The Nature Scene" was one of the three songs considered for the planned single that ended up becoming a full LP.

This is the only track on "Confusion" that drummer Bob Bert plays on. Before recording, Bob was let go from the drums due to concerns with his playing ability. Jim Scalvanos plays drums on all the other tracks. Towards the end of recording, Jim decided he did not want to continue and Kim suggested bringing Bob back. His contributions to songs like "Confusion Is Next" "Shaking Hell" and "Making The Nature Scene" were noticeable enough to give him another try. Bob came in and knocked out "Making The Nature Scene" in less than a day.

Another hardcore song? The lyrics were written by Thurston but sung by Kim. Thurston plays a groove on the with a thumping junlge type beat behind him. Lee sweeps a drumstick across the guitar along with drums. A lot like "Confusion Is Next" "Making The Nature Scene" evokes a youth uprising with lyrics like "order of decay, nature reality is selection, too of critical internvention, fragmentation is the rule, unity is not taught in school." This song could have been another hardcore song but in a Sonic Youth treatment, the song evokes more power than a fast 1 minute song.

"Making The Nature Scene" comes and goes in the set but was played nightly during the 2002-03 Murray Street Tour. It really seems in the last few years more and more songs from this era are being played again!

Confusion Is Next

2008-05-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Track 4 on Side 2 of Confusion Is Sex is called "Confusion Is Next."

Next? Sonic Tooth? Chaos? The song takes lyrics to describe the art scene or atleast that is what Thurston has been known to say about the song. Turston has always had a fascination witht hardcore but I feel its mostly with the subculture and the DIY ethic that comes with it. "Confusion is Next" to me represents what could have been an interesting "hardcore" song.

I maintain that chaos is the future
And beyond it is freedom
Confusion is next and next after that is the truth
You got to cultivate what you need to need

Stick your fingers in your mouth
Squeeze your tongue and wrench it out
From its ugly fucking cancer
Its ugly fucking cancer root
You got to cultivate what you need to need

Chaos is the future and beyond it is freedom
Confusion is next and next after that is the truth
You gotta cultivate what you need to need
Sonic tooth, sonic tooth
Sonic tooth, sonic tooth
Stick your fingers in your mouth
Squeeze your tongue and wrench it out
From its ugly fucking cancer
Its ugly fucking cancer root
You got to cultivate what you need to need
Sonic tooth, sonic tooth
Sonic tooth, sonic tooth

All these lyrics are missing is a fast double yime tempo with loud fast guitars! Its kind of that way. As I said before, This song to me, represents Thurston's ideal hardcore song done in a veur Sonic style. Words of chaos, freedom and shouting for the future can only point towards hardcore. A group that lived for themselves adn their subculture. A way of life.

This song was one of the three proposed for a single before the project became a full LP. "Confusion" has not been played since the '95 Lollapalooza Tour.

Tell nothing but the truth.

World Looks Red

2008-05-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Song 2 on Side 2 of Confusion Is Sex is called "The World Looks Red."

Wait a minute! An actual song? Side 2 features more tunes that represent an actual song structure rather than an orchestrated jam. "World Looks Red" was one of the first few songs harbored an actual structure with a start and finish.

The song was worked out and played instrumental with lyrics added by Micheal Gira during the recording of Confusion Is Sex. During live showsThurston often adds the lines in repeat "no it is, yes it isn't" during the end. The song features Lee playing the riff with a screwdriver stuck in the neck. Thurston bangs another riff with a drumstick in the fret board. Like many songs of this era, the drums and bass carry the song with the guitars noise up the riff or the melody.

The band often opened shows with this song and was in rotation until the end of '86. The song was revived during the '95 Lollopalooza tour but remained un-played until 2006, joining "Shaking Hell" on the Rather Ripped tour.

Inhuman

2008-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Side 2 of Confusion is Sex starts off rather up-beat with an extreme track known as "Inhuman."

Of all the songs Thurston plays bass on, this is the only one that he sings with the bass.

Confusion ushered in a newer side of Sonic Youth. They often recieved criticism for copying Glenn Branca, but the main difference between The Sonics and the noise guru were that Sonic Youth began orchestrating their jams into actual songs with a start and finish.

"Inhuman" is a short rocker with a noise intro. Thurston counts it off and the song explodes into a 3 minute punk song.

"Inhuman" is a good example of the line Sonic Youth often walked between punk rock and noise. Thurston often called it "Art-Core."

This song gets pulled out every once in a while but has remained dormant since the early ninties. The Murray Street tour saw a brief revival during encores.

Shaking Hell

2008-05-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

Rounding out the end of side 1 on Confusion Is Sex is a Kim Gordon tune called "Shaking Hell."

In June of 2006 I got a little surprise while seeing the band on the Rather Ripped Tour.....SHAKING HELL!!! After 20 years of being retired, the band pull this one out during the final encore of their Rather Ripped Tour. Faces were stunned, minds were blown.

The song features one of the best and dramatic vocal performances from Kim. She begins with a low whisper:

she's finally discovered she a

i told you so!

she's finally discovered she a

i told her so!

She then gets somewhat seductive:

come closer and i'll

tell you!

come closer and i'll

take off your dress!!

the primal scream of those lyrics are haunting. Even when she yells "Turn Around!!" She ends with a heavy breathing, almost orgasmic vocal repeating "shake! shake! shake! shake!"

The song features Thurston on bass with Lee strumming the guitar. Kim plays guitar also. The song is a basic repeating riff with guitar noises, but then breaks down to a lone drum beat with Lee providing a rather melodic drone background.

This song was one of three songs considered for a 7inch single at the start of 1983. Thurston had been really into hardcore and noticed that most hardcore bands released singles because they were cheap and easy to make. The band entered the studio with Wharton Tiers only to realize that they had more than enough material to make a full album. "Shaking Hell" was the first song to be recorded for the record.

Problems would plague the entire making of Confusion Is Sex. The best take of Shaking Hell got erased by accident and several attempts were made to get another good take. The only copy of the erased track existed on a cassette tape. The rough mix down was used as the final track on the record. You can even notice a drop in fidelity when the song comes on.

This song was a staple in the set from 82-84. Shows were often ended with an extended jam of the song. A live version appears on the Kill Yr Idols EP, which was taken from the 11-15-82 show at The Pier in Raleigh, NC.

I Wanna Be Your Dog

2008-05-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

Track four on Confusion Is Sex is called "I Wanna Be Your Dog."

This is an Iggy and The Stooges cover recorded live on cassette in November 1982 at The Pier in Raleigh, NC.

The band has been known to pull this cover song out ever now and again. Iggy Pop himself joined the band on stage in '87 and has continued to do so when the opportunity arises. Others that have lended their services on playing this song live include Mark Arm and Steve Turner (mudhoney), Ron Asheton (the stooges) and Nick Cave.

This song was played a number of time on the Sonic Nurse Tour in 2004.

Freezer Burn

2008-05-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

Song number three on Confusion Is Sex just happens to be a short instrumental called "Freezer Burn."

During the recording of Confusion, the band did alot of accidental experimentation. The band spent Jan-Feb of 1983 working day and night to keep the track from sounding too muddy. Traks were recorded, rerecorded, mixed and remixed just to get a decent sound. Wharton Tiers had a great 8-track tape machine but very little equipment for it.

Freezer Burn is a failed experiment that turned out to be useful on the final product of Confusion. It has been said that the band recorded this guitar only track in a walk in freezer down the street from Wharton Tiers studio. The track was actually done in the studio testing rooms for better low end. 4 guitar were tracked and layered, and when finished, the sound was so muffled it sounded as if it was done inside a walk in freezer, hence the title.

The track was used to segue into the live version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog."

Sometimes played on cassette in between songs at live shows.

Protect Me You

2008-05-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

After the loud bang of "She's In a Bad Mood," Confusion Is Sex gets cooled down a bit a with a dark and somber tune called "Protect Me You."

Confusion Is Sex walked many lines in 1983. "Protect Me You sounds like a song that a little girl would and make up to herself alone in her room. Kim Gordon plays this role often with her vocals often giving off a very dark impression. Like the previous track, "Protect Me You" stay within the realm of New York avant garde art rock. As we will see, the rest of the record begins to branch out from the confines of "Protect Me You."

Thurston thumps his guitar with drumstick wedged in the fret board. This is the only track Lee plays bass on any record. Mostly because he wrote the bass line. One of my favorite Kim vocal performances, dark, somber, and sexy.

Written in 1982 and performed on the Savage Blunder Tour in November '82. No live recording exists of this song and its believed to have never been played live after its recording in March '83.

She's In A Bad Mood

2008-05-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

Sonic Youth's first full length LP is titled "Confusion Is Sex." The first song is called "She's In A Bad Mood."

At the end of 1981, Sonic Youth replaced drummer Richard Edsen with drummer Bob Bert and at the beginning of 19982 embarked on a three week tour with fellow Neutral label mates The Swans. It was during this switch the real change in the bands sound began to take shape. Many new songs were added to the live set, one of them being "She's In A Bad Mood."

The song builds and builds and then a final crash of noise brings the song to an end and into silence. This format had been used before with several of the earlier pieces but is best represented in this song. Lee uses more lead pipes to create the metallic crashes of noise and Thurston scrapes, strums, and drones on a fractured E chord. The vocals are lazy and melodic with a catchy refrain "she's in a bad mood but I won't fall for it!"Perfect start for the record?

"She's In A Bad Mood" isn't exactly the "first" song on the Confusion Is Sex. The record made to start with either side but the LP lists the as the start of side 2 but the 1994 Geffen reissue places it at the start of the record.

This song has not been performed since November 1983 and very few live recordings exist of this song.

The Good and The Bad

2008-05-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

The last song on Sonic Youth's self titled EP is called "The Good and The Bad."

Instrumental ending is always the way to go. The Sonics have been known to end records with a flighty noise jam and this is the first.

The song features a thumping bass riff a lot like "The Burning Spear." It is no secret that no wave and New York City noise had inklings of dance and jazz music. The ascending and descending guitr lines come into a breakdown and back into the groove. Over and Over again distinguishing the both sides of the song, the good and the bad.

Neutral Records released Sonic Youth at the beginning of 1982 and was recorded for $1000 at Radio City Music Hall. The studio was a 24 track facility making it the "cleanest" sounding Sonic Youth record until 1990's Goo. By the time the record came out, the band had clearly shifted paths into a new world of sonic noise music. Richard Edsen left shortly after and the new era and sound of Sonic Youth was ushered in by new drummer Bob Bert and sound engineer Wharton Tiers.

I Don't Want To Push It

2008-05-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Fourth song on Sonic Youth's self titled EP is called "I Don't Want To Push It."

Another simple tune from this EP. The band wails into a free form jam while Thurston sings right above a whisper making his vocals almost inaudible. Thurston states in the Confusion is Next book that his vocals had to be redone a few days later and he had developed a cold, making them very "stuffy."

This song was originally titled "Hard Work" and can be found on the 2006 re-issue in a 9 minute form. Another performance of the song appears on the Sonic Death cassette. This was a staple jam in the set and is a great representation of the New York No Wave style. Art rock at its best. This song was last played on 11-04-1983. It has not be resurrected in any form since.

She Is Not Alone

2008-05-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

The third song on Sonic Youth's self titled EP is called "She Is Not Alone."

In late 1981 Sonic Youth decided to stop rehearsing and begin using their performances as practice. Most of the live set was improvised and the band was tired of paying to rent a space to practice. This caused Richard Edsen to question whether he wanted to continue with the band. "She Is Not Alone" was a song that started off in a free form improvised state.

The earliest known performance of this song was in July 1981. The "Confusion is Next" book and the liner notes to the Sonic Youth EP indicate that this song was debuted without drums in a very noisy state. Drums were added and the earliest known recording was the 9-18-81 performance.

The recording features some simple bass lines with Thurston repeating the line "She is not alone....today!" He starts off soft and then his voices raises but never above the soft whisper. For the record Lee put down his drill (often used on stage for the song) and made some interesting "clinking" sounds by dropping lead pipes onto the floor is various parts of the song. The song is 4:05 long. It has been known to go on for 15 minutes.

The song was brought back into the live set in 1999 after an 16 year absence. It was often used as the encore during the A Thousand Leaves tour. The song took on a different form and would be an all out jam ending in a noise jam. The song came back in 2002-03 and played frequently during the Sonic Nurse tour in 2004.