Sonic Youth: Classic or Dud/S&D?

DESTROY: the *entire* NYC Sonic Youth Cult Of Art and all the pretentious jazzwankers who hang out at the Cooler wishing they could be Lee Renaldo. You're not. Now shave off the chin-rag and go home.

I really miss the Cooler, actually! Pretentious jazzwankers sounds more like Tonic tho (which I also miss).

She wore a dress once. That was a whole news cycle. The Cooler was the pre-Tonic that wasn’t the Knit.

She wore a dress once. That was a whole news cycle. The Cooler was the pre-Tonic that wasn’t the Knit.

Wow that’s weird. Ignore the first part of that. And the dupe.

Thought you were making up some Sonic Youth lyrics.

just listened to their debut for the first time. the music feels very Glenn Branca-esque, plus hand percussion. I really like the cover image.

It was on Glenn's label.

Ignore the first part of that.

No way, that was exquisite, I wouldn't change a word of that.
Not how I remember the place but love the idea of pretentious jazzwankers having to set foot in the X-Large boutique on Lafayette to buy their Cooler tix.

Evol and Sister have hit Bandcamp

https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/evol

https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/sister

That's all the 80s full lengths and I think the only studio things not on Bandcamp now one way or another from the decade are Kill Yr Idols and Into the Groovey.

If you could re-sequence/revise the track list for one Sonic Youth album, what would it be and how would you change it?

I’m going with Washing Machine, an album that’s near to perfect but slightly half-hearted about its desire to be psychedelic.

Here’s what I’d do:
- cut “Junkie’s Promise”
- cut “Panty Lies”
- merge “Becuz” and “Becuz Coda” into a single song
- would I cut “Skip Tracer”? Maybe
- replace the 19:35 version of “Diamond Sea” with the ~25 minute long version from the CD5
- Bliss out

Skip Tracer is p psychedelic for me, w/Lee's free city rhymin'. And I love Junkie's Promise and Panty Lies, but that long version of Diamond Sea is bliss. I had a hunger back in the days of Napster to find every live version of that song I could and try and mix them into an epic symphony of feedback.

they finally put up a 1995 show on their live archive — it smokes. https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-austin-1995

Oh and hey, I interviewed Steve Shelley about said live archive. Some cool insights, stories, etc. He talks about wanting to do a Washing Machine boxed set and it sounds amazing. seems like Lee wants to do something similar with "Diamond Sea" ...

https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2021/11/30/sonic-youths-steve-shelley-selects-10-gems-from-the-bands-archive/

cut "Skip Tracer"??!? also I don't often like Kim's spoken / grunt songs but "Panty Lies" is perfect.
Washing Machine is brilliant, it's A Thousand Leaves which needs some attention.

Yeah, nevermind re “Skip Tracer”. For whatever reason I always compare it to “Saucer Like” (which is far more enjoyable) but Lee’s lyrical swinging is crucial.

I sure hope that box set happens, thanks for posting that Tyler!

wow thanks Tyler! great stuff

That 1996 “Diamond Sea” blew my mind

Matt, what would you change about A Thousand Leaves?

Rob Sheffield in the blue 2004 Rolling Stone album guide proffered a version of ATL I have no problem with, and I love the album.

Sheffield's suggested edit of ATL is brilliant. I tried it and it sounded perfect, like one of my very favorite Sonic Youth albums.

(If anyone wants to try it, you basically remove every track with Kim on lead vocal - nothing against Kim, I love what she brought to the group, but in this particular case, it really creates a perfect album to cut out those tracks.)

There are good things on ATL but overall I feel like it's too unfocused and jammy. Probably not the right attitude but I like their propulsive and rhythmic work more, e.g. the band only hit high gear when Steve joined, for my money. I do like their experimental side too but sometimes it feels a bit indulgent rather than challenging.

ATL the album is on the right side of the jam boundary for me, but the ATL tour was drowning in jam

I really wish some of these archival treasures on Bandcamp were getting physical releases too. I've bought some of them and will likely continue to do so, but some of this stuff deserves to be around in another format too. I mean, I get it, but anything like this being hosted primarily on one digital platform only gets me nervous about just how long into the future this stuff will be relatively easily accessible.

XP Jon 1000%

bird/word: whoa because ATL is *such* a Kim record. But it is also too long. I will check it out, because even as a long time fan I've always had a hard time with that one. (But then, I put NYC Ghosts and Flowers in their top five, so ....)

I’d buy more of these live sets if I could buy them on CD.

atl is the best sy record, i will never stop claiming this

you basically remove every track with Kim on lead vocal

no way

Shelley mentions some (potential) physical releases in the AD interview: a Wylde Ratttz LP that is in the making, not sure if the many Stooges songs they've recorded in rehearsals will be included, sounds like that's more of a long term wish. Then there's some talk on a Washing Machine box that he'd like to be able to get together. But yeah, nothing specific for the live sets, unfortunately. I'd sign up for a cassette series!

you can get a CD of this show — a few other things on the merch page, I think? https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-berlin-2009

Washing Machine set sounded incredible, hopefully they get to do it. He said there was a little hold-up with Universal, which still has the rights, I guess.

ICYMI here's a look back at Sonic Youth at the onset of their storied career

https://humanparts.medium.com/street-noise-unearthing-sonic-youth-893f19ecb22f

hey

steve pressed up vinyl copies of Live In Chicago a couple months ago, the packaging was sweet.

ICYMI here's a look back at Sonic Youth at the onset of their storied career

https://humanparts.medium.com/street-noise-unearthing-sonic-youth-893f19ecb22f

hey

Loved this, Mark

xpost - thanks tyler, looks like that Berlin set is the only one of the archival releases on CD, but that's a start! the merch page is mostly catalog and SYR physical releases.

Loved this, Mark

same, thanks

xp yeah, it'd be cool if they did something like a CD boxset of the Rarities collections. And I'm all for bypassing vinyl when it comes to this stuff, generally — I probably wouldn't buy a ridiculously expensive 5LP live release, but I'd buy a $16 2CD show.

Nice piece, m coleman

where did rarities 3 go? not on Bandcamp anymore?

Huh, yeah, it is gone. That was the only non-live entry so far, correct? Wonder if there was a rights issue somewhere down the line.

What’s the consensus on “Tunic”? I feel like it was initially received in reviews at the time (which i remember as mostly being cranky about them moving to a major) as being too on the nose. But man, the frantic guitars in the intro, the rushed beat and that “You aren’t never going anywhere” chorus are all pretty mind blowing. And the lyrics are actually kind of perfect* – both subtle and over the top, which somehow seems appropriate.


*Other than the reference to seeing (who I presume is) Dennis Wilson in heaven, as he didn’t die until later that year.

Tunic is pretty much a perfect song to me, the roaring sea of perfectly burred guitars, Kim drifting through it in a trance, haunted by the Carpenters, its seeming casualness and the void of horror beneath the surface.

and I loved your article Mark! Sent it to friends too.

where did rarities 3 go? not on Bandcamp anymore?

Too bad. The acoustic Starpower version is still on YouTube though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYZ1lil80Rk

"Tunic" was what initially attracted me to SY as a kid in '90. I'll not hear a word against it.

“Tunic” works really well if you imagine it soundtracking a post-Robocop dystopian cyber cop film

I didn't want to buy into "Tunic" at first because of the lyrics, if that is what NTI is getting at, but ultimately ended up getting drawn in all the deeper because of that, the effect being like a Douglas Sirk movie (hi Todd Haynes) where at first I want to laugh at or feel superior or most likely just keep the characters at arm's length, until I am totally relating to them and full-strength feeling their pain.

To make another unwarranted film reference, I recently read a pretty good Karen Carpenter bio called Little Gir Lost or something like that, and the story ending up having a Rosemary's Baby-like quality, Karen trying, mostly with the help of Phil Ramone and his wife Karen Kamon, to escape via her solo album, but then being thwarted at every turn.

Little Girl Blue, not lost.

Ok good, because “Tunic” was kind of blowing my mind. The part where she is disappearing as the titular article of clothing spins around her arms and legs reminds me of the Wicked Witch of the West melting – intentionally or not it’s an incredible (and indelible) image. What a tune.

I really like the music on "Tunic" but the lyrics seem pretty trite to me, which is hard to overlook when they are spoken and foregrounded.