Album: Daydream Nation
Artist: Sonic Youth
Artist: Sonic Youth
Born: SoHo, New York City
Released: October 1988
Genre: No Wave
Influenced: Slint, Pavement, Nirvana, Sleater-Kinney, Yo La Tengo, Parquet Courts
My first encounter with Sonic Youth's music wasn't exactly love at first sight. On my year abroad in France, one of my good friends was a Frenchman called Geoffrey, who was obsessed with the band and played them on his stereo constantly. I found Sonic Youth a bit jarring to start with but, gradually over time, came to appreciate their music and Daydream Nation especially. Starting out in the early 80s as part of New York's no wave scene, an underground reaction to the major label new wave scene, Sonic Youth embodied the movement's nihilistic spirit and love of screeching guitars. One element that contributed to the band's unique sound was Thurston Moore's use of unorthodox tunings, while the noise collages created by bassist Kim Gordon and guitarist Lee Ranaldo were also highly original. Daydream Nation evolved into a double LP and is arguably the peak of the band's output, at the end of a decade in which they had refined their sound with each new album, notably on Evol (1986) and Sister (1987). The hardcore punk energy that fired the brand from the beginning is still there, but the compositions are more complex and sprawling, while Moore and Ranaldo's songwriting is sharper.
Teen Age Riot depicts a street scene and adds two elements that were largely missing from Sonic Youth's music to that point, a sense of melody and a sense of humour ("say it, don't spray it"). Imagining that the lead singer of Dinosaur Jr is President of the United States, it's an epic 7-minute song that connected with America's youth. In fact, its success meant that Daydream Nation was Sonic Youth's last work for an independent label before becoming feted as the forerunners of the grunge rock genre that exploded in the 90s, led by the likes of huge Sonic Youth fan Kurt Cobain. No other album showcases the band's wide range of styles; from hard rocking tracks like Silver Rocket, to the weird and wonderful Providence and the more ballsy and confrontational Total Trash. The album's closing Trilogy suite is also mesmerising, while Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix get a surreal nod on Hey Joni, on which Ranaldo conjures up a highly original remix of pop history. He's also behind one of my favourite songs on the LP, Eric's Trip, while Moore was the brains behind another favourite of mine, Candle. For me, this is an album that continues to reveal its charms.
My first encounter with Sonic Youth's music wasn't exactly love at first sight. On my year abroad in France, one of my good friends was a Frenchman called Geoffrey, who was obsessed with the band and played them on his stereo constantly. I found Sonic Youth a bit jarring to start with but, gradually over time, came to appreciate their music and Daydream Nation especially. Starting out in the early 80s as part of New York's no wave scene, an underground reaction to the major label new wave scene, Sonic Youth embodied the movement's nihilistic spirit and love of screeching guitars. One element that contributed to the band's unique sound was Thurston Moore's use of unorthodox tunings, while the noise collages created by bassist Kim Gordon and guitarist Lee Ranaldo were also highly original. Daydream Nation evolved into a double LP and is arguably the peak of the band's output, at the end of a decade in which they had refined their sound with each new album, notably on Evol (1986) and Sister (1987). The hardcore punk energy that fired the brand from the beginning is still there, but the compositions are more complex and sprawling, while Moore and Ranaldo's songwriting is sharper.
Teen Age Riot depicts a street scene and adds two elements that were largely missing from Sonic Youth's music to that point, a sense of melody and a sense of humour ("say it, don't spray it"). Imagining that the lead singer of Dinosaur Jr is President of the United States, it's an epic 7-minute song that connected with America's youth. In fact, its success meant that Daydream Nation was Sonic Youth's last work for an independent label before becoming feted as the forerunners of the grunge rock genre that exploded in the 90s, led by the likes of huge Sonic Youth fan Kurt Cobain. No other album showcases the band's wide range of styles; from hard rocking tracks like Silver Rocket, to the weird and wonderful Providence and the more ballsy and confrontational Total Trash. The album's closing Trilogy suite is also mesmerising, while Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix get a surreal nod on Hey Joni, on which Ranaldo conjures up a highly original remix of pop history. He's also behind one of my favourite songs on the LP, Eric's Trip, while Moore was the brains behind another favourite of mine, Candle. For me, this is an album that continues to reveal its charms.
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