Sonic Youth’s first record was released when I was still in high school (but I wasn’t hip enough to “get it” right away). The next year, when I worked my first summer job at a record store (yes, it was Tower Records downtown), I “discovered” the band through Confusion Is Sex, their first full-length LP. Their music moved me to create my own, and I wasn’t alone. The music scene in NYC that had started with the mid-70s punks and had progressed through “No Wave” had hit an artistic high with bands like Sonic Youth. I have many fond memories of that mid-80s period, many of which involve Sonic Youth.
- Buying an import copy of the Kill Yr Idols EP and running into Thurston on the way home. (He signed the jacket for me.)
- Seeing Sonic Youth play at CBGB at a benefit for See Hear, when the store suffered major flood damages. The finale of the show featured a long a rousing version of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” with SY joined by Don Fleming and Kramer.
- Playing a gig with my own band and looking out into the audience and seeing the members of SY hanging out – feeling like a part of the scene.
- and so many more…
For more than a decade, I never passed up an opportunity to see Sonic Youth play live.
Then, in 1995, with the imminent release of their 10th full-length Washing Machine, I saw them play Lollapalooza. And I wasn’t enraptured. In retrospect, I should been more forgiving. Lollapalooza was known to make the potentially best musical appearances somewhat …. less than best. But for whatever reason, that was the year my love affair with Sonic Youth ended. And it was the last time I saw them play live .
Over the next several years, I picked up their records, and yes, they were fine, but the spark was rarely there.
Last year, I heard that they had signed to Matador Records. If you don’t follow the music biz, you might not know that Matador is run by a guy named Gerard Cosloy, an outspoken and unapologetic ex-music critic. He also tends to have really good taste. Back in the ’80s, he ran a label called Homestead, and through his label, he released SY’s first real masterpiece – Bad Moon Rising. Expecting good things from the reunion, I pre-ordered my copy of The Eternal, which arrived on my doorstep at the beginning of June. I’m not sure what kind of weird alchemy was brewing in the studio, but the album ROCKS. To call it a “return to form” would be unfair, but perhaps it would be safer to call it a “return to formula” of sorts. The songs on The Eternal recall some of their best music from the late ’80s, while still sounding fresh. When they announced that they’d be playing in Los Angeles, I decided to break my 14-year moratorium on seeing Sonic Youth, and bought a ticket. And then, shortly before the show was to take place, Lee (one of the two (or three) guitar players), broke his wrist – playing tennis. The show was rescheduled for January 9, which gave me a few more months to decide whether my initial love of their album would wear off.
A few days before the show, I was listening to The Eternal on my iPod. I still loved it. I was ready to see them again.
The opening band, Sic Alps, had a few moments. Their garage/psych sound played a little derivative to my ears, but I knew that I couldn’t possibly give them a completely fair evaluation that night. There are times when I resent an opening band, because their music fills a space that would be better filled with quiet background noise. This, thankfully, wasn’t one of those times. I’m sure that I’ll see them again, and I’ll probably enjoy them a lot more. There were a couple of stand-out tunes, but since I’m not familiar with their catalog, I couldn’t tell you what they were.
Sonic Youth, on the other hand, was brilliant. Since I’d last seen them live (15 years earlier), the core line-up of Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon and Steve Shelley was augmented by Mark Ibold on bass, who is most famous for being in Pavement, although I remember him as that really friendly guy who would play bass whenever a cool band needed him (he was great with the Dust Devils). There was almost no stage banter, the sets were minimal, the “costumes” were regular street clothes as usual (except for Kim, who was stunning), and the music was perfect.
Their set was pretty much made up of tracks from The Eternal, with some classics tossed in for good measure. I had sneaked a peek at their setlist from the previous night, and saw that their encore was “Xpressway to Yr Skull”, my all-time favorite SY song. I guessed that they wouldn’t play it two nights in a row, and was correct. For the final encore at The Wiltern, they played “Shadow of a Doubt” from EVOL, which is a good if not great SY tune. They closed with an incredible rendition of “Death Valley ‘69″ from Bad Moon Rising. It was 1985 all over again, and I closed my eyes and remembered being 19 years old and transported by their music, as I was all over again.
I’m glad I gave them another chance.
Here’s a video that I found on YouTube of the last song of the evening.
When I lived in Paris, I remember trying to get someone to go with me to See SY in 1987. They weren’t big yet; this was before their breakthrough. I had cassette tapes (remember those) of Evol and Confusion is Sex and Bad Moon Rising (plus some stuff Thurston did with Lydia Lunch), and I remember lending them to a bunch of different classmates at the American School of Paris, in the hope that someone would want to see SY in concert with me. I got a bunch of no’s (finally a total stoner went, but I think simply because I promised her some pot). But my favorite “no” response came from my friend Chrissie, who said, “So I put the tape in my player, and it sounded all fucked up and I thought, ‘Shit, my tape player’s broken!’ Then I put in one of my tapes, and it played fine, and I thought, ‘Shit, I broke Raven’s tape! She’s going to kill me.’ Then I listed to it again and realize that was how the music was *supposed* to sound. So how can I put this…no I won’t go with you.’” 23 (oy!) years later, Chrissie loves them. Time changes everything.