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Sonic Youth are an experimental rock group formed in 1981. Initially inspired by the noise experimentation of Glenn Branca—with whom most of the band have performed—as well as the heavy garage rock-acid-rock of The Stooges, they were known for using a variety of unorthodox guitar tunings, and for applying screwdrivers or other preparations to guitars to alter the instruments' timbre.
MembersThe band currently consists of Kim Gordon (bass guitar, guitar, vocals), Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Lee Ranaldo (guitar, synthesizer, vocals), Steve Shelley (drums 1986- present) and Jim O'Rourke (guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, laptop) (2000-present). Their most recent release, Sonic Nurse was released on June 7 2004. DescriptionSupposedly their name mocks the preponderance of bands with the name 'youth' in the title in NYC in the early 1980s. They were associated with the "No Wave" art/music scene in New York City, but have outlasted most associated bands. Drummer Steve Shelley played drums for the hardcore band the Crucifucks before joining Sonic Youth. Besides Branca, Patti Smith, and the Stooges, another early influence was hardcore music of the early 1980s. Moore and Gordon, especially, were impressed by the intensity of the musicians involved, and their ability to organize nationwide. "It was great," said Moore, "the whole thing with slam dancing and stage diving, that was far more exciting than pogoing and spitting... I thought [hardcore] was very musical and very radical" (Julia and Gonzalo 51). Sonic Youth began in extremes. Their first album--greatly indebted to Branca--plays very austere and reserved, consciously arty and layered, while their next two important projects, Confusion is Sex and Kill Yr Idols, are hyper-aggressive aggregates of swirling noise. A very vocal camp maintains that Confusion is Sex in particular has never been equalled by the band; nevertheless, SY would not make records like Sonic Youth or Confusion ever again. Sonic Youth have gradually incorporated more conventional elements of pop music into their work, while still maintaining an experimental quality. Starting with Bad Moon Rising and EVOL, the listener can hear the band beginning to craft pop songs from the raw stuff of feedback and distortion. By Daydream Nation (1988), Sonic Youth had perfected this style, becoming virtuostic sculptors of guitar noise. Managing to stay afloat in the cut-throat music industry financially while maintaining some sense of self and dignity, Sonic Youth have proved highly influential on underground rock music. They were particularly important in the growth of grunge: their 1991 tour with the then-unknown Nirvana being captured in the film 1991: The Year Punk Broke. Sonic Youth's influence as tastemakers continued with their discovery of avant skateboard video director Spike Jonze and their revival of Macaulay Culkin via a video directed by the very young Harmony Korine. In the meantime, members of the band diversified their talents. Kim Gordon collaborated in Free Kitten, and started an MTV-adored fashion label X-Girl, based in L.A. Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore have played with many experimental/noise musicians, including William Hooker, Don Dietrich, Christian Marclay and Mission of Burma, among others. Steve Shelley has been involved in running the Smells Like Records and SYR record labels, as well as playing in backing bands for Chan Marshall (Cat Power) and Two Dollar Guitar. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band began releasing a number of records on their own Hoboken, New Jersey-based label SYR. These records featured experimental artists such as Jim O'Rourke, Yoko Ono, and, on Goodbye 20th Century (1999), the works of experimental classical composers such as John Cage, Steve Reich and Christian Wolff. The band was busy working on their 2002 album Murray Street in their NYC studio during the September 11, 2001 attacks. They were kept out of the studio for several weeks following the attacks. In 1994, journalist Alec Foege published a full-length biography of the band called Confusion is Next: The Sonic Youth Story. Sonic Youth's career is also chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American underground rock groups by Michael Azerrad. Former personnel include Richard Edson (drums 1981-1982), Bob Bert (drums 1982-1986), Jim Sclavunos (drums 1982-1983) and Ann DeMarinis (keyboards 1981-1982) Edson left the band to appear in movies such as Platoon and Stranger Than Paradise. Bert was later involved in No Wave descendants Pussy Galore and Boss Hogg, among others. Jim Sclavunos is currently involved in The Bad Seeds with Nick Cave, in addition to his own band The Vanity Set. Moore and Gordon are married and have a daughter, Coco Gordon Moore. DiscographyOfficial full-length releases
* Reissued in 1988 by SST as Sonic Death -- Early Sonic 1981 - 1983 † Repackaged for CD by DGC with Confusion Is Sex in 1995 Official single releases
Sample
Works CitedJulia, Ignacio and Jaime Gonzalo. Sonic Youth: I dreamed of noise. Barcelona: RUTA 66, 1994. External links
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