Sonic Youth was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the band, while drummer Steve Shelley, who joined in 1985, rounded out the core lineup. Jim O'Rourke (bass, guitar, keyboards) was also a member from 1999 to 2005; Mark Ibold of Pavement (bass, guitar) joined in 2006 and remained in the band until their 2011 split.
Sonic Youth emerged from Manhattan's no wave experimental art and music scene before evolving into a more conventional alternative rock band and becoming prominent in the American noise rock scene. Sonic Youth has been praised for having "redefined what rock guitar could do", including the use of a wide variety of unorthodox tunings and preparing guitars with objects like drumsticks and screwdrivers. The band was a pivotal influence on the alternative and indie rock movements.
After gaining a large underground following and critical praise through releases with SST Records in the late 1980s, the band became more popular throughout the 1990s and 2000s after signing to major label DGC in 1990 and headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. The band disbanded in 2011 following the separation and subsequent divorce of Gordon and Moore, with their final live shows taking place in Brazil. The members have since asserted that the band is finished and will not reunite.
History Formation and early history: 1977–1981 Shortly after guitarist Thurston Moore moved to New York City in early 1977, he formed the group Room Tone with his roommates; they later changed their name to the Coachmen. After the breakup of the Coachmen, Moore began jamming with Stanton Miranda, whose band, CKM, featured Kim Gordon. Moore and Gordon formed a band, appearing under names like Male Bonding, Red Milk, and the Arcadians before settling on Sonic Youth in mid-1981. This name came from combining the nickname of MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith with that of reggae artist Big Youth. Gordon later recalled that "as soon as Thurston came up with the name Sonic Youth, a certain sound that was more of what we wanted to do came about." The band played Noise Fest in June 1981 at New York's White Columns gallery, where Lee Ranaldo was playing as a member of composer Glenn Branca's electric guitar ensemble. Their performance impressed Moore, who described them as "the most ferocious guitar band that I had ever seen in my life", and he invited Ranaldo to join Sonic Youth. The new trio played three songs at the festival later in the week without a drummer. Each band member took turns playing the drums until they met drummer Richard Edson. Anne DeMarinis was in Sonic Youth for a brief period in 1981 as a keyboardist when they performed for the first time at Noise Fest. She performed, along with Gordon and Moore, on three known Sonic Youth songs performed only on June 18, 1981, and left the band before their self-titled debut EP was recorded in December.
Early releases: 1982–1985 Branca signed Sonic Youth as the first act on his label Neutral Records. In December 1981, the group recorded five songs at New York's Radio City Music Hall. This material was released as the EP Sonic Youth; while largely ignored, it was sent to a few key members of the American music press, who gave it uniformly favorable reviews. The EP featured a relatively conventional post-punk style, in contrast to their later releases. Edson then quit the group to play full time in his other band, KONK and was replaced by Bob Bert.
During their early days, Sonic Youth formed a friendship with fellow New York noise rock band Swans. The bands shared a rehearsal space, and Sonic Youth embarked on its first tour in November 1982 supporting Swans. During a second tour with Swans the following month, tensions ran high and Moore constantly criticized Bert's drumming, which he felt was not "in the pocket". Bert was fired afterwards and replaced by Jim Sclavunos. Sclavunos played on the band's first studio album, 1983's Confusion Is Sex, which featured a louder and more dissonant sound than their debut EP. Sonic Youth set up a tour of Europe for the summer of 1983. Sclavunos, however, quit the band after only a few months. The group asked Bert to rejoin, and he agreed on the condition that he would not be fired again after the tour's conclusion. Bert went on to play on the band's Kill Yr Idols EP later in 1983.
Sonic Youth were well received in Europe, but the New York press largely ignored the local noise rock scene. Eventually, as the press began to take notice of the genre, Sonic Youth was grouped with bands like Big Black, the Butthole Surfers, and Pussy Galore under the "pigfucker" label by Village Voice editor Robert Christgau. Another critic from The Village Voice panned a September concert by the band in New York. Gordon wrote a scornful letter to the newspaper, criticizing it for not supporting its local music scene, to which Christgau responded that the paper was not obligated to support them. Moore retaliated by renaming the band's song "Kill Yr Idols" to "I Killed Christgau with My Big Fucking Dick" before the two eventually sorted out their differences amicably.
Closing a second European tour in late 1983, Sonic Youth's disastrous London debut saw the band's equipment malfunctioning and Moore destroying it onstage in frustration. When they returned to New York, they were so popular that they were now able to book local gigs regularly. The following year, Moore and Gordon married, and Sonic Youth recorded Bad Moon Rising, a self-described "Americana" album that served as a reaction to the state of the nation at the time. The album, recorded by Martin Bisi, was built around transitional pieces that Moore and Ranaldo had come up with in order to take up time onstage during tuning breaks; as a result, there are almost no gaps between the songs on the records. Bad Moon Rising featured an appearance by Lydia Lunch on "Death Valley '69", which was inspired by the Manson Family.
Due to a falling-out with Branca over disputed royalty payments from their Neutral releases, Sonic Youth signed with Homestead Records in the US and Blast First in the UK (which founder Paul Smith created simply so he could distribute the band's records in Europe). While the New York press ignored Bad Moon Rising upon its 1985 release, now viewing the band as too arty and pretentious, they gained critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, where the new album sold 5,000 copies.
Claiming he was bored with playing Bad Moon Rising live in its entirety for over a year, Bert quit the group and was replaced by Steve Shelley, formerly of the Lansing, Michigan, hardcore punk group the Crucifucks. Sonic Youth was so impressed with Shelley's drumming after seeing him play live that they hired him without an audition. Bert and Shelley both appeared in the music video for "Death Valley '69", as Bert had performed the drums on the song, but Shelley was the group's drummer when the video was filmed.
SST and Enigma: 1986–1989
Sonic Youth had long appreciated SST Records, the independent label founded by Greg Ginn of Black Flag; Ranaldo said, "It was the first record company we were on that we really would have given anything to be on." Sonic Youth signed with the label in early 1986 and began recording EVOL with Martin Bisi. The band gained national attention when signing with SST, making them the first band from the New York underground to gain such notice. The mainstream music press subsequently began to take notice of the band. Critic Robert Palmer of The New York Times declared that Sonic Youth was "making the most startlingly original guitar-based music since Jimi Hendrix" and even People reviewed EVOL, describing the album as the "aural equivalent of a toxic waste dump." The album was later called "a classic" by Neil Young.
Around the same time, the band collaborated with former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt under the alias Ciccone Youth, which was a play on the names Sonic Youth and Ciccone, the surname of Madonna. They released a single in 1986 and the LP The Whitey Album in 1988 as Ciccone Youth. The 1986 single, "Into the Groove(y)", was a cover of Madonna's "Into the Groove" and was preceded by "Tuff Titty Rap". The flip side of the record was Watt's cover of Madonna's "Burning Up". The Whitey Album included both Sonic Youth songs from the single plus a demo version of "Burnin' Up". The album also contained a cover of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" recorded in a karaoke booth.
The 1987 Sonic Youth album Sister was a loose concept album partly inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. The "sister" of the title was Dick's fraternal twin, who died shortly after her birth and whose memory haunted Dick his entire life. Sister sold 60,000 copies and received very positive reviews, becoming the first Sonic Youth album to crack the Top 20 of the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll.
Despite their critical success, the band became dissatisfied with SST due to concerns about payments and other administrative practices. Sonic Youth decided to release their next record on Enigma Records, which was distributed by Capitol Records and partly owned by EMI. The 1988 double LP Daydream Nation was a critical success that earned Sonic Youth substantial acclaim. The album came in second on the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll and topped the year-end album lists at NME, CMJ, and Melody Maker. In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. The lead single from the album, "Teen Age Riot", was their first song to receive significant airplay on modern rock and college rock radio, and reached number 20 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. A number of prominent music periodicals including Rolling Stone hailed Daydream Nation as one of the best albums of the decade; Rolling Stone named Sonic Youth as the "Hot Band" in its "Hot" issue. Distribution problems subsequently arose, and Daydream Nation was often difficult to find in stores; the band began looking to leave Enigma, which Moore deemed a "cheap-jack Mafioso outfit", for a major label.
Major label career and becoming alternative icons: 1990–1999
In 1990, Sonic Youth released Goo, their first album on the Geffen Records subsidiary DGC. The album featured the single "Kool Thing", on which rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy made a guest appearance. The record was considered much more accessible than their previous works and became their best-selling record to date.
In 1992, the band released Dirty. Their influence as tastemakers continued with their discovery of acclaimed skate video director Spike Jonze, who they recruited for the video for "100%", which also featured skateboarder turned actor Jason Lee. That song and "JC" discuss the murder of Joe Cole, a friend of the band who worked with Black Flag as a roadie. The album features artwork by Los Angeles–based artist Mike Kelley. Dirty featured a guest appearance by Ian MacKaye of Fugazi on the track "Youth Against Fascism". In 1993, the band contributed a live version of the track "The Burning Spear" from their debut EP to the AIDS benefit album No Alternative, produced by the Red Hot Organization.