Sonic Youth - Biography
Maybe the biggest name in Indie Rock. Over the past couple of decades,
punk culture has evolved into many different things and produced a variety
of new genres of punk, including New Wave,
No Wave, Cyberpunk,
and even politically minded neo-Nazi hardcore and
riot girl feminist punk. Also rising out of the punk
scene in the late 1970s was a band that incorporated punk's attitude
into their avant-garde noise rock to create sonic landscapes. This band
was Sonic Youth. Over the past 15 years
since its inception, Sonic Youth has maintained its relatively punk
stance and successfully avoided the burden of superstardom. Through their
music and actions, Sonic Youth has tested all music boundaries and
manipulated the rock industry in ways that display a punk experience in
a nontraditional way. Sonic Youth are made up by four members: Lee
Ranaldo (guitars/vocals), Thurston Moore (guitars/vocals),
Kim Gordon (bass/vocals), and Steve Shelley (drums).
Each member was influenced by punk music at a young age, which eventually
led all but Shelley to New York to seek out the burgeoning punk scene of
the New York Dolls, Television,
and the Ramones. Moore came from Connecticut
as a young teenager enamored with punk rock. He played in a band called
the Coachmen in New York City that cited influences such as the Velvet
Underground, and slowly came into the new No Wave music scene
that was being created out of the New Wave music scene. Kim was an art student
from Los Angeles that moved to New York City after starting an interest
in No Wave bands. Lee was an ex-hippie that moved to the City to later play
in several experimental guitar bands. His influences range from the Grateful
Dead to Elvis Costello, Television,
and the Talking Heads. Lee played with
Glenn Branca often, where he learned to play with alternate tunings
and create 'white noise'. Branca was a musician/composer who enlisted
several (sometimes up to six) guitarists to play his symphonies of
noise. Sonic Youth learned much from Branca later, such as using
alternate tunings and various non-conventional ways of playing to create
their style of noise.
Sonic Youth's range of influences were incorporated directly into
their music over the years. Rising from the local No Wave and performance
art scene in New York City, Sonic Youth's first
self-titled EP (1982) was mainly influenced by the local No Wave
and performance art scene in New York City in the late 1970s. After touring
around the US, Sonic Youth, and especially Moore, became interested
in the new hardcore music scene developing
in Los Angeles and Washington, DC Music by Black
Flag, Minor Threat, and the
Dead Kennedys helped shape Sonic
Youth's music, making it harder and more primal. This sound can be heard
on their first full-length album, Confusion Is
Sex (1983). A low budget album put out by Neutral records in
the United Kingdom, it featured covers of the Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your
Dog' and '(She's in a) Bad Mood' (from World Party Music article).
This was the first album where Sonic Youth began using alternate
tunings for their guitars, and used different guitars to create totally
different sounds for their songs.
In the early 1980s Sonic Youth started to become recognized as the
leaders of the New York hardcore scene,
even though they did not play straight hardcore
music and were much older than the fans of hardcore. Just as Sonic Youth
became popular with hardcore, they shifted their focus from hardcore to
concentrate on American culture of the early 1980s. Sonic Youth's
second album, Bad Moon Rising (1985),
was a result of a death obsession of the band's, specifically images of
death in American culture. They were concerned with the path society was
taking, and perceived events such as Ronald Reagan's peace talks (and
the underlying threat of nuclear war) and Charles Manson's murderous
'Family' to be perfect examples. One song, 'Death Valley '69,' is
about the Manson Family and their slaughters. The album was very dark compared
to early work, and was not received favorably by many critics, which helped
to ostracize them from the New York hardcore scene. After signing with SST
records, the Los Angeles independent label home to Black Flag and the Minutemen,
Sonic Youth released EVOL
(1986). The band, although still dealing with the other bands featured at
SST, eventually rejected all hardcore influences since hardcore music had
become 'codified,' and became interested in mainstream pop culture and music,
including a serious fascination with Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen,
and Michael Jackson. It was not until their fourth album that Sonic Youth
became interested in punk subculture again. By the time Sister
was released in 1987, the band had evolved beyond their hardcore roots and
became interested in cyberpunk culture, including the works of Philip H.
Dick and William Gibson's landmark cyberpunk novel Neuromancer.
Sister saw Sonic Youth's music
begin to evolve. Their distinct 'wall of noise' sound no longer disseminated
from chaos, but was built into conventional song structures with more of
a punkish punch to them. Their style of playing became more refined, yet
tested and pushed at the same time. Lee and Thurston would insert drumsticks
into the strings of their guitars and play them to create quirkier noises,
as well as using screwdrivers and other equipment to further expand upon
their noise. Since then, Sonic Youth's music has maintained a certain
style to it by creating sonic landscapes which absorb the attention of the
listener. Subsequent releases of Daydream
Nation (1988), Goo (1990), Dirty
(1992), Experimental
Jet Set, Trash And No Star (1994), and Washing
Machine (1996) have explored the sounds of noise, free
jazz, punk rock, and alternate song
structures to create the Sonic Youth sound. By pushing the boundaries
of music, Sonic Youth displays a punk attitude that incorporates
a stance against offering the public what it wants to hear. Although recognized
now as the godfathers of alternative culture, Sonic Youth has never
been popular in the same sense as bands like Nirvana
or Pearl Jam. Their faces have not graced
a major entertainment or music magazine cover since the mid-1980s, where
they were featured on NME, Melody Maker, and Sounds, three British music
publications. Their albums have never gone gold (over 500,000 copies
sold). In fact, Dirty, their most
commercially acceptable album, had only sold 300,000 copies by 1994.
The reason that Sonic Youth do not sell that many albums is because
that would mean they would have to copy others' sounds, and the fans would
lose something. They do not want to stylize their sound because this would
make it to Pink Floyd-ish, too glossy. The fact that Sonic Youth
are truly 'no star' results from their punk/hardcore stance against popularity.
Their at times cacophonous music alienates them from mainstream culture.
Thurston Moore claims that people are not musically adventurous because
they only like to hear what's popular. People want to be a part of the MTV
majority, but Sonic Youth never wanted that from music. He wanted
music that suited him, something he could immerse himself in and have it
become a part of his character. This stance towards mainstream music conveys
a punk attitude in Sonic Youth to not 'sell out' and make it rich
in the rock and roll industry. Sonic Youth's actions have also influenced
the rock industry in a shocking, punk way. Back in the early 1980s, when
Confusion Is Sex was released and hardcore
was an influence, the band pursued the Do-It-Yourself ethic of hardcore
by releasing 7' singles, using photocopied art for album covers, and making
low-budget, low-tech recordings. Thurston Moore published his own 'art-core'
hardcore fanzine, Killer, from 1983-85,
and also started his own independent label Ecstatic
Peace.
Later, while on their 1990-91 Goo tour, Sonic Youth took bands like
Nirvana, Mudhoney,
Pavement, Gumball,
and Babes in Toyland on tour with them
to help promote them. Around this time, the major label industry was disappointed
with the success of current bands like Motley Crue
and Bon Jovi, and thus the major labels
were seeking fresh new bands. Sonic Youth used its influences to
help new postpunk bands of the 1990s get record contracts from these labels,
the most significant one being Nirvana's signing with Geffen records in
1991. Steve Shelley started his own independent label, Smells
Like records, which produces 7' singles by upcoming bands like
Sentridoh. Of anyone in the band, Kim
Gordon might be attributed with the most influence upon the rock industry.
Around the time when Sister was released,
Kim began having more influence in the writing and lyrics of Sonic Youth's
songs. The most radical member of the band, Kim's songs often deal with
women's issues. Goo's 'Kool Thing' responds
to L.L. Cool J's chauvinist attitude towards women, as well as Dirty's 'Swimsuit
Issue', a song about the degradation of women in Sports Illustrated's
swimsuit issue. Kim's nonmelodic vocal timbres and punk attitude (she
claims women are the best anarchists) have inspired a number of 'riot
grrl' bands, such as Bikini Kill,
Bratmobile, and Huggy
Bear, to form and speak out against female oppression. This revolutionary
aspect of women's contribution to rock displays a type of punk ethics earlier
seen in bands like the X-Ray Specs.
Sonic Youth, although not a traditional punk band, does have punk
attributes and have been influenced by punk bands and genres. Their consistent
pushing against musical boundaries and their actions in the world of mainstream
and indie rock display a punk attitude and ethic. As Sonic Youth
continue to forge their way into the future, they will continue to maintain
this punk ethic, their guiding principle to their lives. Punk is the foundation
of Sonic Youth and has constant emphasis in the lives of its members.
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