Sonic Youth new album "Rather Ripped"

To digress: anybody remember Rather Ripped records in Berkely? Alas, I never shopped there, but used to order from their catalog. Maybe the coolest store in America at one time, they were the hook-up for obscure imports and indies, and were probably the Residents' exclusive retail outlet for awhile. Subject of a notorious bootleg bust in the 70s, too. I hope the SY title is a tribute.

i like it.

they should get pettibon to do their album covers again.

I actually don't mind the cover, though.

last good cover, last good album! *runs really fast from delusional sy fanz. never to return. i promise*

I mean, I don't dislike the covers (or titles) of Bad Moon Rising, Dirty, Jet Set, A Thousand Leaves, or Sonic Nurse, to name a few, but I don't think of them as "good" cover art/titles, either.

http://img186.exs.cx/img186/4378/sonicyouthnyc2jh.jpg

although I have to admit, the way the "u" in Youth is directly below the "n" in Sonic as almost a mirror image is really striking, they should totally use that font for a logo on other stuff.

"A Thousand Leaves" is the every defintion of "crappy Photoshop job".

does surrealism own the copyright on images of the human eye or something? I think you're bringin' your own baggage to the table g

Well, haven't they made a point of having different artists do the covers of the records rather than repeating the same people?

Sister has a great cover.

I actually think NYCGF was one of their better covers, not that they have many great ones. (S: Daydream Nation).

ha! tis true ... again, scott makes me happier.

Goo
Daydream Nation
Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star
Dirty
Evol
Sonic Nurse
Sister
Confusion Is Sex
A Thousand Leaves
Rather Ripped
NYC Ghosts and Flowers
The Whitey Album
Murray Street
all of the SYR records in a tie, though I like the red one best
Bad Moon Rising
Washing Machine
Sonic Youth EP

beta--was kim gordon a total ice queen when you were eating olives with her? or was she nice to you? i got the chance to hang out with sonic youth backstage once, maybe four years ago. kim was very distant and basically ignored me, thurston was nice enough, jim o'rourke (guess he's not still in the band) was friendly, and i didn't see much of steve. the nicest person in the band was lee ranaldo, who even offered to write my wire article for me when i was feeling stressed out about it. i saw him some other time at a gallery and had a funny conversation with him about "le corbusier concrete lollipops" (i still have one somewhere, in a box!)

thurston gave me an impromptu lecture on strange old improvisors when i 1st met him...but they have all been quite nice to me when i have met them. & xpst

for real

Still p sure this is my favorite SY record front to back.

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"Rather Ripped" is the new title? Seriously?
I hope Thurston hasn't been pumping iron with Bobby Bonds! lol

I see M. Perpetua posts here, august company indeed!

― Wrinklepaws (Wrinklepaws), Thursday, March 30, 2006 11:11 AM (6 years ago)

Oh, Wrinklepaws.

this is a very good album, their most concise & focused imo. I still like Bad Moon Rising more.

it's def the best late-period SY album

eh it's my least fav of the last 4. still pretty good though.

I used to prefer Sonic Nurse but not anymore; the last few tracks slay me.

God, was Wrinklepaws really 7 years ago?

least fave of last 4 for me also but still pretty great. man these guys are really done huh?

fuck, 15 years

Mentioned seeing them upthread for this tour in Seattle, and that was the last time I did see them out of three total (first in 1999 just post-instrument theft, second at Terrastock 5 with O'Rourke doing all of Murray Street, then this show post-O'Rourke). Good way to bow out, really.

Very fond memories of them playing in Reno for this tour on 4 July. "Jams Run Free" a definite highlight of the set — but the last song was "Shaking Hell" played behind a projection of dark psychedelic inverted color fireworks interspersed with bomb footage.

Only time I ever saw SY live was on this tour, and it was also the only time I've ever visited NYC (saw them at McCarren Pool). Kind of ideal imo.

Saw them in South Burlington, VT, IIRC in the middle or aftermath of a snowstorm. My second and last time after a free Central Park show in 2002. I remember gangly Thurston saying "hello Brattleboro" at the beginning and sticking his tongue out and all excited to accept pictures given by young people near the stage. Kim looked very tired and did not speak to the audience, as best I can recall. In retrospect it seemed like a harbinger of things to come.

Can report a similar dynamic at the show we saw. Thurston had brought an open beer on stage with him, which seemed to be much to Lee's chagrin. Perhaps also explains why "Jams Run Free" and "Shaking Hell" ruled so hard, as it was Kim's chance to steal the show. Which she did with ease.