Sonic Youth's albums breakdown into three phases for me: the first phase is from 1982 to 1988 where they released increasingly inspired albums for indie labels SST (in the US) and Blast First (in the UK), culminating in Daydream Nation; the second is from 1990 when they signed to Geffen and released several albums that in one way or another were a response to being on a major label (Goo, Dirty and Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star); and then a long third phase from 1995's Washing Machine through to the end in 2009 with The Eternal. A big part of this third phase was the band becoming elder statesmen of indie- punk, no longer the youthful punks of the early 80s, and having to find ways to keep moving forwards without repeating themselves. They also were hugely affected by two events, the death by suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994 and the Twin Towers attacks of 2001.
Washing Machine was their ninth album and released not long after their headlining stint on the Lollapalooza tour. They'd had a period where they all explored side projects and Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon had a child, their daughter Coco. They decamped to Memphis, Tennessee to make Washing Machine, a most un- Sonic Youth place on the face of it, but they wanted to disconnect from the usual environment and surroundings and free themselves to make an album in a more relaxed way.
Washing Machine opens with The Diamond Sea, a song that clocks in at just under twenty minutes (and a song they released as a single). In 1991- 2 Sonic Youth had toured with Neil Young and Crazy Horse and had been an influence on Neil releasing Weld, the feedback driven live album from the tour. In return, on The Diamond Sea Sonic Youth sound the most like Neil Young and Crazy Horse they ever would, the song a long ballad with overblown guitars and a very Neil opening line, both in the lyrics and Thurston's drawl- 'time takes it crazy toll'. The last line, and it's difficult not to hear the song as a tribute to Kurt Cobain in many ways, is another Neil Young sounding line- 'And love is running wild on the diamond sea'.
In November 1995 the band were on tour again, playing Austin, Texas on the 15th. Towards the end of the set Thurston introduces the song by telling a story about the band playing Austin years before and meeting Terry Pearson who became their soundman from that point on. Then they fly into the song, Lee and Thurston's guitars wailing and roiling and Thurston singing like Neil Young. It's slightly shorter than the album version, just fourteen minutes, but it's a heck of a way to spend a quarter of an hour, the four Sonic Youthers locked in and on fire, a tremendous racket- the guitars blaze and glow like fireworks, coupled with a great tune and some emotional tension. And the re- entry after the feedback/ noise freak out section crescendo with Thurston back into the song's end section with the line 'time takes it's crazy toll' is fantastic.
The Diamond Sea (Live in Austin, November 1995)
Neil Young released Weld in 1991, a double album of songs recorded during the long tour and a third disc called Arc made up entirely of feedback. During the tour Neil and Crazy Horse developed the songs, many of them becoming longer and longer and more feedback driven. He took to covering Blowing In The Wind and adding air raid siren FX. The first US led Gulf War was going on at the same time and Neil said the band would see news reports on CNN and then go on stage after 'watching this shit happen... singing songs about conflict'. He added, 'we couldn't just go out there and be entertainment'.
Cortez the Killer is from 1975's Zuma, a tale of imperialism and slaughter extended for nearly ten minutes live in 1991. It's the song that kicks off disc two of Weld, Neil and Crazy Horse at their live best.
