Sonic Youth have earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as any influential rock group you can name; their achievements are that profound. They'll be eligible for the rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame in just a couple of years, and they deserve election. They'd probably thumb their nose at the idea, and its unlikely the Hall would give them the credit they deserve. But calling them one of the greatest alternative rock groups ever is not as crazy as it would have seemed 20 years ago; they've stubbornly managed to persist, grow, mature, and influence without betraying themselves or their fans.
Nobody would have predicted such an opening to the Sonic Youth story when the band was formed in 1981. The original band consisted of guitarist Thurston Moore from Connecticut, guitarist Lee Ranaldo from Long Island, and Moore's girlfriend Kim Gordon, on bass. Both Ranaldo and Moore had played with avant-garde guitar noise composer Glenn Branca, and soaked up influence. Gordon had been active in New York's no wave scene for a few years.
Their live debut occured in the summer of 1981 in New York City at an event called the "Noise Festival", which Gordon and Moore had had a hand in setting up. A five-piece, Sonic Youth also featured Anne DeMarinis (who would depart before their first EP) on keyboards and Richard Edson on drums.
In the beginning, they were a loud rude noise. Still sounding a lot like Glenn Branca, influenced by the New York performance art milieu, owing a debt to the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, inadequately labeled punk, post-punk, and no wave, they abandoned any hint of formal rock structure. Their debut EP, released on Branca's label, is an abrasive wash of feedback, alternate tunings, crashes, and shrieks. Sonic Youth (1982), is testament to free-form atonality; it's a mighty tough listen.
Still, it was a sound that seemed to demand a second listen, and a third, and a fourth. While the free-form post-punk scene was full of pretenders who really couldn't play their instruments, Sonic Youth seemed to understand something about sonics. They hadn't mastered it; or even gotten control of it. But there was something defiantly challenging about their early music which was reinforced by their live shows; loud, chaotic affairs by all accounts. Bob Bert replaced Edson on drums in early 1983.
Article comments
1 - The Theory
nice write up. Sonic Youth has been one of my favorites for a while... though I tend to drift more toward 90s material... the material SY fans tend to scoff at, like Experimental Jet Set... whereas I cannot really enjoy listening to "Daydream Nation"
2 - beben
i from indonesia. i verylike song from sonic youth. grunge never die
3 - Diamond Sea
Well written, though NYC Ghosts & Flowers and Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star are both great albums imo and i don't consider them a failure.
I was a bit sceptical about their new 2006 album, Rather Ripped, but after listening to it lots of times i tend to like it a lot too !