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Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth: Sister

Sonic Youth at a glance...

Hometown: New York, NY
Year Formed: 1980

Personnel:
Kim Gordon -bass, guitars, vocals
Lee Ranaldo -guitars, vocals
Thurston Moore -guitars, vocals
Steve Shelley -drums

Related artists:
Ciccone Youth, Two Dollar Guitar, Free Kitten, Lee Ranaldo, William Hooker, Velvet Monkeys, The Crucifucks, Cat Power, Nels Cline, Thurston Moore, In Limbo, The Coachmen, Mats Gustafsson, William Winant, J Mascis, Kim Deal, Pavement, Half Japanese, Mike Watt, Borbetomagus, Shonen Knife, Puzzled Panthers, Jim O'Rourke

Notes:
Sonic Youth rose triumphantly out of New York's early 80s No-Wave scene. Originally fueled by the ripping guitar of Glenn Branca alumns Ranaldo and Moore, Sonic Youth grew into - and maintain their stature as - a rock 'n' roll aural-experimentation unit beyond compare. Sometimes melodic, sometimes atonal, but rarely boring, the band have covered a lot of ground in its nearly 20-year history. From the early scene-splashing Confusion is Sex (1983) to the more polished EVOL (1986), the band's early evolution is apparent. 1988's epic Daydream Nation secured Sonic Youth's status as a legendary, visionary band which would forever leave its mark on rock 'n' roll. Subsequent albums and tours have served to bolster the band's popularity, even when not establishing any new plateaus of creativity. More recently, offshoot releases (like 1997's Perspectives Musicales series) have shown evidence of a continuing interest in experimentation. A perpetually active band, Sonic Youth will surely entertain and challenge for years to come.

Links:
Read Ink Blot's tribute to Sonic Youth, "Sonic Truth"
Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth
Sister
Geffen, Released 1987
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth

Known primarily as a noisy, experimental, primal punk/art-rock band through the early 1980's, Sonic Youth finally hunkered down and set their minds on a far simpler task for this effort.

From the album's first cut, "Schizophrenia," through its last, "White Cross," the course of this album moves with a fluid rhythm kept in time by syncopated harmony anchored by steady drumming. In essence, the album's organized flow allows it to work like a cogent stream of consciousness. One of the tools at work on the album is the constant hum of feedback from beginning to end. Though a staple for Sonic Youth, on this record they use the soft, warm sound as a base from which each of the song's emotions flower. The effect is comforting and primal, like the hum of a mother cooing her child to sleep. Then out of nowhere, like the opening bars on "(I Got A) Catholic Block," guitars crash in and twist the pervading sense of peace into feelings of disruptive frustration. As the lyrics and the tempo converge and take the song's feelings to a pitch, the pace slows down, the guitars slowly drop off as if the emotions had been spent, then the roar is fully replaced with the hum of feedback until the next thought comes to mind.

Had it not been for Daydream Nation, produced one year after, this album might be considered Sonic Youth's masterpiece.

If you like Sonic Youth, check out:
Sonic Youth EVOL
Sonic Youth Goodbye 20th Century
Sonic Youth Bad Moon Rising
Sonic Youth Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth Goo
Sonic Youth Washing Machine
Sonic Youth Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star
Sonic Youth Confusion Is Sex
Sonic Youth Dirty
Sonic Youth NYC Ghosts & Flowers
Cornelius Cardew Treatise
Richard Maxfield/Harold Budd The Oak of the Golden Dreams
Polwechsel Polwechsel 2
Jim O'Rourke Terminal Pharmacy
High Rise High Rise II
Sonic Youth

-- Sean Neumann

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