A European tour followed, cementing the band's reputation as the anti-rock and word of mouth followed by underground press notice helped them build their audience almost brick by brick. Another EP, Kill Yr Idols, was released on a German label.

Indeed, their rise was arduous. In early 1984, Moore tried to land a deal with Doublevision records, a British indie label; the label rejected the demos, but one of the owners became a believer, setting up a new label Blast First which was to be distributed through Rough Trade, specifically to find an outlet for the band. In the interim, a cassette only release Sonic Youth live kept the band in circulation.

     

Their first Blast First album, Bad Moon Rising, came out in 1985. This was the album that broke them in the underground music press. Bad Moon Rising was the true step forward. Without sacrificing any of the Branca-esque tonalities, they instead applied them to a coherent set of songs. Moore and Gordon's vocals get more prominence, and what rises to the surface is dreamy like a hallucination; morbid and foreboding, but bordering on melody with interruptions of screeching dissonance and crashes of percussion. This album is still a very tough listen for rock fans raised on safe music; however, those who have gotten acclimated to this band will find much to enjoy here. "Death Valley '69", a Charles Manson reference, guest stars avant-garde vocalist Lydia Lunch.

The profit-taking EP Death Valley '69, a compilation of previous EP's plus Bad Moon Rising's closer, was hastily released. Drummer Bert then was replaced by Steve Shelley, who became a member for the long-haul.

Bad Moon Rising's raves in the alternative press stirred up some serious interest in the band, and offers started coming in, even from a few major labels. The band went with famed indie label SST, and released EVOL in 1986. If Bad Moon Rising was a step forward towards subversive listenability, EVOL was the great leap forward. Full of honest-to-goodness excellent songs, particularly the concert staple "Expressway To Yr. Soul" and "Shadow Of A Doubt" which effectively utilizes everything in the band's growing arsenal: a Kim Gordon spoken intro, heavy reverb, staccato rhythm, an unsettling groove, an explosion of noise, and assorted atmospherics. This album got them played on college radio, and captures their transformation into real musicians in all its sonic glory.