Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City and formed in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, rounding out the core line-up. Jim O'Rourke (bass, keyboards, guitar) was also a member of the band from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold (bass, guitar) was a member from 2006 to 2011.
This article is about the band. For their debut eponymous EP, see Sonic Youth (EP).
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth emerged from the experimental no wave art and music scene in New York before evolving into a more conventional rock band and becoming a prominent member of the American noise rock scene. Sonic Youth have been praised for having "redefined what rock guitar could do"[1] using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings while preparing guitars with objects like drum sticks and screwdrivers to alter the instruments' timbre. The band was a pivotal influence on the alternative and indie rock movements.
After gaining a large underground following and critical praise through releases with SST Records in the late 1980s, the band experienced mainstream success throughout the 1990's and 2000's after signing to major label DGC in 1990 and headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. The band disbanded in 2011 following the separation and subsequent divorce of Gordon and Moore with their final live shows taking place in Brazil.[2][3] The members have since asserted that the band is finished and will not reunite.[4]
History[edit]
Formation and early history: 1977–1981[edit]
Shortly after guitarist Thurston Moore moved to New York City in early 1977, he formed the group Room Tone with his roommates; they later changed their name to the Coachmen.[5] After the breakup of the Coachmen, Moore began jamming with Stanton Miranda, whose band, CKM, featured Kim Gordon.[6] Moore and Gordon formed a band, appearing under names like Male Bonding,[7] Red Milk,[7] and the Arcadians[8] before settling on Sonic Youth[9] in mid-1981. The name came from combining the nickname of MC5's Fred "Sonic" Smith with reggae artist Big Youth.[8] Gordon later recalled that "as soon as Thurston came up with the name Sonic Youth, a certain sound that was more of what we wanted to do came about."[10] The band played Noise Fest in June 1981 at New York's White Columns gallery,[11] where Lee Ranaldo was playing as a member of Glenn Branca's electric guitar ensemble. Their performance impressed Moore, who described them as "the most ferocious guitar band that I had ever seen in my life",[6] and he invited Ranaldo to join Sonic Youth.[12] The new trio played three songs at the festival later in the week without a drummer. Each band member took turns playing the drums, until they met drummer Richard Edson.[13]
Early releases: 1982–1985[edit]
Branca signed Sonic Youth as the first act on his record label Neutral Records. In December 1981 the group recorded five songs at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The material was released as the EP Sonic Youth which, while largely ignored, was sent to a few key members of the American music press, who gave it uniformly favorable reviews.[14] The album featured a relatively conventional post-punk style, in contrast to their later releases. Edson then quit the group for an acting career[15] and was replaced by Bob Bert.[16]
During their early days as part of the New York music scene, Sonic Youth formed a friendship with fellow New York noise rock band Swans.[17] The bands shared a rehearsal space, and Sonic Youth embarked on its first tour in November 1982 supporting Swans.[18] During a second tour with Swans the following month, tensions ran high and Moore constantly criticized Bert's drumming, which he felt was not "in the pocket".[19] Bert was fired afterwards[20] and replaced by Jim Sclavunos,[21] who played drums on the band's first studio album, 1983's Confusion Is Sex, which featured a louder and more dissonant sound than their debut EP. Sonic Youth set up a tour of Europe for the summer of 1983. Sclavunos, however, quit the band after only a few months. The group asked Bert to rejoin, and he agreed on the condition that he would not be fired again after the tour's conclusion.[22] Bert went on to play on the band's Kill Yr Idols EP later in 1983.
Sonic Youth were well received in Europe, but the New York press largely ignored the local noise rock scene. Eventually, as the press began to take notice of the genre, Sonic Youth was grouped with bands like Big Black, the Butthole Surfers, and Pussy Galore under the "pigfucker" label by Village Voice editor Robert Christgau.[23] Another critic from The Village Voice panned a substandard September concert in New York. Gordon wrote a scornful letter to the newspaper, criticizing it for not supporting its local music scene, to which Christgau responded that the paper was not obligated to support them. Moore retaliated by renaming the song "Kill Yr Idols" to "I Killed Christgau with My Big Fucking Dick", before the two eventually sorted out their differences amicably.[24]
Closing a second European tour in late 1983, Sonic Youth's disastrous London debut (where the band's equipment malfunctioned and Moore destroyed it onstage in frustration) actually resulted in rave reviews in Sounds and the NME. When they returned to New York they were so popular that they were able to book local gigs regularly.[25] The following year, Moore and Gordon were married, and Sonic Youth recorded Bad Moon Rising, a self-described "Americana" album that served as a reaction to the state of the nation at the time.[26] The album, recorded by Martin Bisi, was built around transitional pieces that Moore and Ranaldo had come up with in order to take up time onstage during tuning breaks;[25] as a result, there are almost no gaps between the songs on the records. Bad Moon Rising featured an appearance by Lydia Lunch in "Death Valley '69", which was inspired by the Charles Manson Family murders.[27]
Due to a falling-out with Branca over disputed royalty payments from their Neutral releases, Sonic Youth signed with Homestead Records in the US and Blast First in the UK (which founder Paul Smith created simply so he could distribute the band's records in Europe).[28] While the New York press ignored Bad Moon Rising upon its 1985 release, now viewing the band as too arty and pretentious, Sonic Youth gained critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, where the new album sold 5,000 copies.[29]
Claiming he was bored with playing Bad Moon Rising live in its entirety for over a year, Bert quit the group and was replaced by Steve Shelley, formerly of the punk group The Crucifucks. Sonic Youth was so impressed with Shelley's drumming after seeing him play live that they hired him without an audition.[30] Bert and Shelley both appeared in the music video for "Death Valley '69", as Bert had performed the drums on the song, but Shelley was the group's drummer when the video was filmed.
