As far as leaving a lasting impact goes, Sonic Youth must be up their with the rock that killed off the dinosaurs.
Formed in the early 80s, the band’s career spans more than two decades and some of American rock music’s most pivotal releases. ‘Bad Moon Rising’, ‘Daydream Nation’, ‘Goo’ and ‘Sonic Nurse’ are just a few of the gems that glitter in the group’s back catalogue, with many more worth investigating.
Sonic Youth are set to release their new album ‘The Eternal’ on June 8th, the band’s first truly independent album since their seminal ‘Daydream Nation’ collection dropped in 1989. A stunning and vital return from the band, it showcases a lust for noise that puts them at the forefront of American music.
The band’s hunger seems to have transmitted itself to the live setting. Sonic Youth recently played London and completely, utterly blew the audience away. Click away for a report and a photo gallery!
Speaking to ClashMusic, the band appear calm when discussing their glittering back catalogue. “I think some of our albums are discovery points for different people at different ages, for sure. I mean, those people that were throwing their arms in the air when ‘Bad Moon Rising’ came out – what happened to them?” asks guitarist Thurston Moore.
Drummer Steve Shelley agrees. “I think it depends on the person’s personality, as to which one of our records becomes that ‘moment’ for them”.
“We’re lucky to have more than one. We’re lucky that people can argue over which is our best album.”
The group’s forthcoming album is their first with new bassist Mark Ibold, once of seminal alt rock dons Pavement. “Ibold coming into the group was a kind of gradual thing,” explains Moore.
“Kim thought of Mark, because she’d played with him a lot in Free Kitten, and Pavement used to tour with us a little bit. We’d not really seen him for a few years, as he was kind of off the scene, but we met him on the street a couple of times in the street in New York and got reacquainted.”
The new album was recorded in several weekend long shifts, with the band writing ‘The Eternal’ two songs at a time. Explains Shelley “We’d drive up to Kim and Thurston’s house and play for a couple of days in the basement; then they’d drive down to the city on a weekend and we’d try to record those songs we’d just worked on. It felt like we were doing a single every weekend, where we were really focused on just these few ideas.”
Sonic Youth are set to release ‘The Eternal’ on June 8th. Look out for a full interview with the band in Clash Magazine soon!