Voted by Subnormal Magazine as the best rock band of all time,
Thurston Moore (vocals and guitar), Kim Gordon (vocals, guitar,
and bass), Lee Ronaldo (vocals and guitar), and Steve Shelley
(drums), round out to form the band that has influenced more
modern rock indie bands since the 80’s, including Nirvana,
the so called grunge scene, and currently the Yeah Yeah
Yeah’s, than perhaps any other band around.
Blasting out of New York City’s underground punk rock scene
of 1976 and 77, influenced by the scene happening at CBGB’s
and Max’s Kansas City with bands including the MC5, Iggy
and the Stooges, Patti Smith, and The Ramones, Sonic Youth
stormed constellations when Kim, who was in art school in L.A.,
met Thurston and Lee, and they started destroying and creating
music together in 78 and 79. With bands including Television,
Voivod, James Chance and the Contortions, Lydia Lunch with
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and more- blowing minds, Sonic Youth
became the unofficial forerunner of the so called No Wave scene,
in reaction to New Wave’s safe pretty boy image, and also
in reaction to punk rock’s growing ‘3 chord, blues
based predictability.’ Sonic Youth’s so called no
wave trip, which was theirs and others artistic philosophy,
rather than a trend, found their way on to the album of the same
title (No Wave), that changed the face of rock music
forever.
After witnessing Steve Shelley’s blasphemous band, Steve
was recruited and replaced Bob Bert on drums in 1984.The four
piece went on to bring their avant’ garde influences of
free jazz (John Zorn), experimental (Brian Eno), classical
renegades (as Glen Branca, who put out their first EP), and
minimalist artists, and infused this in to their own concoction
of potent, poetic, psychedelic guitar driven rock (ala Jimi
Hendrix, Neil Young, Syd Barrett) with the filth and fury of
punk. Souped up sonics, tricked out distortion pedals, and
stripped down hot rotted guitars- with lots of six string
shredding with drumsticks like an electric violin on acid- made
Sonic Youth unlike any thing the world has ever heard before.
Countless imitators crawled out trying the same, and crawled back
quietly never coming close to matching their greatness. One
talented band, Nirvana jumped on the coat tails, and the rest is
mud fest history.
At first listen, many critics hated Sonic Youth, dismissing them
as noise makers who could not play. Upon further examination
however, those smart enough to go beneath the surface, realized
that not only could they play, and not only were they playing
minor chords and skipping normal chord progressions on purpose,
but they were deconstructing the very structure of music and
rock, and inventing it their own way. Silence was used for
punctuation of effect, minor chord distortions would tear away in
to dissonance and reverb, becoming a deliberated melody unto
itself, with multiple guitars doing the same, on the same or
similar frequency, shooting off like rockets in opposite
directions of chaos, and returning magically back in a frenzy of
a self contained whole of musical bliss and rock perfection.
Sonic Youth, the wise learned, were geniuses. It was as if
Hendrix himself went on stage multiplied, and was blowing every
ones mind yet again. Sonic Youth’s 16th studio album, The
Eternal, is out now on vinyl, cd, and digital via Matador, and as
to be expected, it is nothing short of brilliance.
sonicyouth.com