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Half SONIC YOUTH, half other stuff
I’ve been listening to SONIC YOUTH a lot lately, so half of this week’s list consists of some of their records. The other half consists of other stuff that I’ve been digging lately.
Sonic Youth – EVOL (SST/DGC)
The first album with former CRUCIFUCKS drummer STEVE SHELLEY not only predicted the direction they would go in afterwards but remains one of their very best albums. NEIL YOUNG (whom the band toured with in 1990) once famously called “Expressway to Yr. Skull” the best guitar-rock song of all-time and if that one doesn’t convince you, then the mysterious and downright creepy sexiness of “Shadow of a Doubt” (based on ALFRED HITCHCOCK’s Strangers on a Train) or the downright poppy “Starpower” will. The 1993 DGC reissue of this 1986 album adds their cover of KIM FOWLEY’s “Bubblegum”.
Sonic Youth – Sister (SST)
Although this is regarded as their best album by many fans and though I think it’s a very good album, I prefer EVOL and Daydream Nation, the albums before and after it, respectively (not counting The Whitey Album, the frankly bizarre MADONNA and ‘80s pop-culture obsessed album done under the name CICCONE YOUTH). Still, this album showed the band continuing to hone their sound into a fierce, driving, rockin’ rollercoaster as highlighted on tracks like the ferocious ”(I Got a) Catholic Block” and a cover of the San Francisco proto-punk band CRIME’s 1st single A-side “Hot Wire My Heart”. Elsewhere, noise, distortion, grime and creepiness, not to mention an obsession with KIM GORDON’s native California (all Sonic Youth trademarks) abound on tracks like “Pacific Coast Highway” and “Pipeline/Kill Time” (note that their “Pipeline” is not the surf-rock classic covered by AGENT ORANGE and others throughout the years)
Sonic Youth – Bad Moon Rising (Homestead/Blast First/DGC)
To be honest, this is one of my least favorite Sonic Youth albums, but the DGC reissue is worth it for the addition of “Flower” (one of my favorite Sonic Youth songs) and “Halloween”. “Death Valley ‘69” (with LYDIA LUNCH), originally on the album and released as a single both in the U.S. and the U.K., is also a highlight.
Sonic Youth – Goo (DGC)
This is their 1990 major-label debut and of course, there was a lot of criticism amongst indier-than-thou types that was based more on the change of label rather than the music. Yes it’s more accessible than previous material, with much of it almost poppy and with conventional verse-chorus-verse structures. However, I have no problem with that and this album contains some of their very best material (“Dirty Boots,” “Disappearer,” “Tunic” and “Kool Thing” immediately come to mind here). Plus, it’s the album that got me into them when I was 15, so I’ve always had a soft spot for it. The “deluxe edition”, released a few years ago, contains an extra disc of demos, B-sides and other rarities. I would deem it for hardcore fans only, however.
Sonic Youth – Sonic Youth (Neutral/DGC)
Originally released on GLENN BRANCA’s Neutral label, their debut, self-titled mini-Lp sounds less like what they would do later on than a seminal early ‘80s post-punk record in the same vein as say, PiL circa Metal Box or maybe THE BIRTHDAY PARTY at their most conventional-sounding (which is to say, still harsh and discordant, yet oddly catchy). Thus, the record is criticized in some quarters as it bears only a small resemblance to what Sonic Youth would do later. However, I like it a lot and this would be a massive indie hit had it been released anytime this decade. I can hear where bands like LIARS are influenced by this record, in particular. Plus, this is their only release with original drummer RICHARD EDSON, who went on to play one of the crooked, joyriding parking garage attendants in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
The Crooked Beats – Life in the Consumer Society (Cecek)
Ferociously rockin’ and ultra-melodic ‘77 style punk that veers on the power-pop and new-wave side and occasionally dips into post-hardcore intensity and from the Czech Republic? You bet your sweet ass. You won’t be able to get the last track, “Red Velvet Madness”, out of your head for hours after you hear it. Unfortunately it’s not up there at the moment, but you can hear some of their other songs on their MySpace page.
No Age – Nouns (Sub Pop)
I missed their show here the other night, but I’m really looking forward to their set at Pitchfork next weekend because I’m still playing this one months after its release. Stylistically, No Age blur the line between noise-pop and punk-ish garage-rock. On last year’s Weirdo Rippers, the elements were separate but now they’ve combined them into a powerful entity. Still, whatever the style is, there’s no denying the power and hooks of songs like “Sleeper Hold” and “Brain Burner”. Their titles say it all, really.
The Feelies – Live in Copehagen 11-27-86 (no label)
I’ve been listening to The Feelies a lot lately and this is a particular ferocious set from around the time that their second album The Good Earth came out. Everything rips here, but check out the cover of THE BEATLES’ “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (Except for Me and My Monkey)”. It just destroys the version on their debut Crazy Rhythms and honestly, it’s the best version of the song that I’ve ever heard. You can download it here.
The Dead Boys – We Have Come for Your Children (Sire/Noble Rot)
Before the recent reissue, I’d never even heard this album, preferring instead to stick with the their amazing debut Young, Loud and Snotty. In part it’s because I was a bit scared off by this album’s so-so reputation. Nevertheless, the reissue is here so I thought that it was time to rectify that situation and as such, it’s about what I expected. It’s a fine album, though much, much lesser than the debut. It’s not even that the production (by former MOUNTAIN member FELIX PAPALLARDI, obviously a mismatch for the group) is all that awful, though at times STIV BATORS’ vocals sound barely audible. It’s that much of the material is simply inferior, though it’s interesting in that the album is clearly a bridge between the fury of Young, Loud and Snotty and the surprising ‘60s poppiness of Bators’ solo material of a few years later.. Still, with songs like “3rd Generation Nation” and a cover of THE ROLLING STONES’ “Tell Me”, not to mention their rendition of “Ain’t It Fun” (perhaps the most harrowing and moving account of self-destruction ever penned), this is still a worthwhile album to get, especially now that you can get it domestically instead of shelling out for a more expensive import.
Rob Dickinson – Fresh Wine for the Horses (Sanctuary)
I still don’t have the 2-disc reissue with Nude, the bonus disc of re-recorded CATHERINE WHEEL material, but I did revisit this album recently after his recent show here. Frankly, it’s great, way better than the last Catherine Wheel album Wishville, and its tracklist didn’t need to be re-ordered. If anything, the awful cover should have been changed, but it wasn’t! Regardless, songs like “My Name is Love,” “Intelligent People” and especially “Oceans” are simply some of the best songs Dickinson’s ever written and his voice soars all over them. Until Catherine Wheel reunite, this will have to do.
