Forty Five Minutes of Sonic Youth

One of the evenings out in Fuerteventura, while pottering around, having a drink and getting ready to go out for tea, I had a sudden urge to hear Teenage Riot by Sonic Youth. One of the wonders of the internet age and mobile phones is that almost any song is only a few seconds and clicks away and within a few seconds the sound of Sonic Youth's 1988 masterpiece, the New York band's imagining of an alternative USA with Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis as President, was filling our hotel room. From there a worked my way through a few of my favourite SY songs, some of which I've pulled together into a forty five minute mix here. This could easily have been twice the length- or a part two could appear at some point. It focusses mainly on their 80s and early 90s output, the Sonic Youth of my youth- and their singles mainly too, not too many deep cuts. There's lots of 21st century Sonic Youth that's worth investigating and maybe I'll come back to it. 

Forty Five Minutes of Sonic Youth

• Teenage Riot
• Youth Against Fascism
• Computer Age
• Kotton Krown
• Death Valley '69
• Kool Thing
• Bull In The Heather
• Sugar Cane
• Dirty Boots

Teenage Riot is from 1988's Daydream Nation, a standard setting 1988 double album, an album which felt like the culmination of something, everything coming together. I could have included half the songs from it on this mix- Silver Rocket, Eric's Trip, Candle, Hey Joni... all indie- punk songs blending the art, noise and alternate tunings with  verse/ chorus melodies. Teenage Riot- one of the songs of the 80s.

Youth Against Fascism- how apt eh? A 1992 single and song from Dirty, the album from the same year, and one that shows the band engaging with politics, twelve years into Republican presidencies in the USA, Kim Gordon's bass a constant grinding menace, Thurston and Lee's guitars distorted and buzzing and Minor Threat/ Fugazi's Ian MacKaye guesting and doubling up on vocals. Sugar Cane is from the same album, the video filmed at a New York fashion show which had a Marc Jacobs grunge collection. It is also Chloe Sevigny's first appearance on film.

Computer Age is a cover of a Neil Young song, one from Neil's mind blowing 1982 album Trans. Sonic Youth take a song with vocoders and keyboards and reverse it into Neil's Crazy Horse backyard, a squealing lesson on how to do a cover version. Their covers of Within You Without You, Electricity and Superstar and as Ciccone Youth, Addicted To Love and Into The Groove are all similarly good. Computer Age was one of several highpoints on The Bridge, a 1989 Neil Young tribute album that also featured Pixies, Psychic TV, The Flaming Lips, Loop, Nick Cave, and Dinosaur Jr. 

Kotton Krown is from Sister, their album from 1987, an album loosely based around the writings of Philip K. Dick. Sister is one of the art rock/ noise milestones of the 80s. Kotton Krown is a blur of dreamy psychedelic noise.

Death Valley '69 is on 1985's Bad Moon Rising, written by Thurston who duets with Lydia Lunch, screwdrivers rammed into the necks of guitars, The Stooges summoned up, along with Charles Manson and the Spahn Ranch.

Kool Thing is from 1990's Goo, the first album released after singing to a major label, one of the album's standout songs. Kim wrote it after an uncomfortable interview with LL Cool J, two people coming out of New York music with very different perspectives. 'Are you gonna liberate is girls from male white corporate oppression?', she asks. Public Enemy's Chuck D responds. 

Bull In The Heather is from 1994's Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star, produced by Butch Vig. Kim wrote it with a viewpoint of seeing passiveness as a form of rebellion- 'I'm not going to participate in your male- dominated culture, I'm just going to be passive', she said of the lyrics. By 1994 Sonic Youth were big business in the indie/ alt- rock/ fashion/ video/ MTV worlds. Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna stars in the video. 

Dirty Boots is from Goo, the opening song and one that features every SY hallmark- tunings, noise, distortion, drawled vocals, building to a massive release several minutes in when the chorus finally hits, 'I got some dirty boots!'