Sonic Youth has a colossal twenty-five years worth of albums, EP’s, singles, compilations, etc. Their mass assemblage of recordings is formidable. And if one were to take into account the totality of side projects of Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo - well, that’s a lot of noises. That brings us to this – the remastered version of Sonic Youth’s first album, 1981’s “Sonic Youth”. Thought by many to be an EP, as there are only five tracks, “Sonic Youth” is considered by the band to be their first album. They should know right? Actually, they don’t sound all that sure either... But that’s their story and they’re sticking to it. Kim, “Right, Thurston?” Thurston, “Right Kim.”
In addition to “Sonic Youths” original tracks - which include “The Good And The Bad” in all its near eight-minute glory - there are several new tracks copped from a 1981 Sonic Youth show at New York’s New Pilgrim Theatre. The live cuts are certainly poor quality, yet fun nonetheless. Just like No Wave should be. Accompanying the grainy live version, there is an early studio version of the, as of yet unheard song “Where The Red Fern Grows” – an instrumental piece in the vain of “I Dreamed A Dream.”
This album is gifted with some kind words from Sonic Youth’s drummer at the time (and busy character actor) Richard Edson. There is also some reading matter from Glenn Branca - the founder of the band’s first label, Neutral. It goes without saying that, yes, there are liner notes provided by Mister Byron Coley.
This re-hash of “Sonic Youth” should be of interest to both obsessive and passive Sonic Youth fans alike. Kids that became aware of the bands, say, in the mid-nineties with the more alt-rock “Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star”, “Washing Machine” and “If I Were A Carpenter” will appreciate the humble art-noise beginnings. (Note the polite applause after each live song – adorable.) Followers that “Knew them when…” will relish said beginnings, and the new-but-no-less-familiar-art-rock tracks. |