History Music / SonicYouth

* AGoodNameForARockBand: Thurston's explanation for the name is that it's a combination of MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith's nickname and the tendency of contemporary reggae acts to include "youth" in their names (such as "Big Youth"). The "youth" part has kind of become bitterly ironic since Thurston, Kim and Lee are in their fifties now, with Shelley and Ibold (the youngest members) not far behind.
** They were also briefly named The Arcadians, then Fucking Youth. [[AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent Which is a different matter entirely.]]
** In a magazine interview, Bob Mould of Husker Du fame remarked (at least ten years ago) that "Old Youth" would be a more appropriate name. The song "Granny Cool"--by his other former band, Sugar--is probably a TakeThat aimed at Kim Gordon. Mould apparently regards Sonic Youth as pampered and overexposed; however, he's more-or-less [[HypocriticalHumor the same age as Sonic Youth's core members, and he too]] continues to release rock recordings.
** The band Eric's Trip, evidently, thought so: having named themselves after the last song on side B of ''Daydream Nation''. Whereas "Eliminator Jr." (from side D) isn't one, although it sounds as if it should be. There's a story behind it, most likely.
*** ZZTop's album ''Eliminator'' + DinosaurJr = "Eliminator Jr." The band thought the song sounded like a cross between the two.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: The 6"6" Moore is a foot taller than Kim

Drawing on a wide variety of influences ranging from protopunk acts like TheStooges and VelvetUnderground and HardcorePunk to avant-garde musicians Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham and John Cage, Sonic Youth's early career was spent largely being a SensoryAbuse NoiseRock band and struggling with lack of recognition and cycling through a succession of drummers. Notably, the band sparred with music critic Robert Christgau over a dismissive review (renaming their song "Kill Yr Idols" to "I Killed Christgau With My Big Fucking Dick" in concert), had a disastrous debut in London ending in instrument destruction (which paradoxically got rave reviews) and released a mediocre debut suffering from horrible production, ''Confusion Is Sex'', that hardcore fans love but everybody else tends to ignore.

Many fans predictably whined ItsPopularNowItSucks after Sonic Youth went to a major label and gradually began abandoning the band in droves. This didn't initially affect their popularity much, as the band managed to pump out more successful albums and underwent a stylistic evolution starting with ''Washing Machine'', abandoning their PunkRock roots and indulging more freely in [[EpicRocking long]] noise jams. Kim also began playing guitar more often and eventually abandoned the bass entirely. They also found enough free time to release experimental records on their SYR label and collaborate with experimental noise musicians such as John Cage, YokoOno, Steve Reich, Christian Marclay and Mission of Burma.

* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers loved to mock Thurston for this, saying at one point "Did you have an actual mom?". Thurston and Kim also may possibly qualify, since they named their daughter Coco Hayley Gordon Moore.

* CoverVersion: "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by TheStooges, "Bubblegum" by Kim Fowley, "Hot Wire My Heart" by Crime, "Nic Fit" by The Untouchables, "Into the Groove" by Madonna, "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer, "Within You Without You" for a [[TheBeatles Beatles]] tribute album, "Electricity" for a [[CaptainBeefheart Captain Beefheart]] tribute album, "Superstar" for a Carpenters tribute album, "Touch Me I'm Sick" for a split single with {{Mudhoney}} and the entire ''SYR4'' album.

Sick of being jerked around by distribution-deficient indie labels, Sonic Youth jumped ship and signed on to Creator/GeffenRecords' sublabel DGC in 1990. Their first album for Geffen/DGC, ''Goo'', represented a concentrated blast of alt-rock noise, and accordingly sold better than previous albums and spawned the band's biggest hit, "Kool Thing". In the same year, Kim's staunch support persuaded Geffen to also bring on board devoted SY fans Music/{{Nirvana}}, making them indirectly responsible for the popularisation of {{Grunge}} in TheNineties, NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat - Nirvana and SY quickly became friends too. Their followup, ''Dirty'', was produced by Butch Vig and engineered by Andy Wallace (the guys behind ''Nevermind'') and also proved to be a decent success.

* SignatureSong: "Kool Thing" is probably the only song the average music listener knows from Sonic Youth.
** "Teenage Riot", which they have played on nearly every tour since 1988.
*** To a lesser extent, "The Burning Spear", a guitar-assault anthem which has been part of their set on-and-off since before their first EP was released.
*** Possibly "Bull in the Heather," due to its inclusion in a Beavis and Butthead episode.

* CulturalCrossReference: The school level in ''SilentHill'' has a list of teachers which says "K. Gordon, T. Moore, L. Ranaldo, S. Shelley". ''Silent Hill 3'' expands on Gordon's relation to the main characters - sadly, it's a completely different character with just the NamesTheSame. Also, the name of the main character Renton Thurston from ''EurekaSeven'' is a combination of Renton from ''{{Trainspotting}}'' and Thurston Moore.

** Lee and beat poetry.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sy5.jpg

* [[{{Pavement}} Mark Ibold]] - bass (2006-present)

Sick of being jerked around by distribution-deficient indie labels, Sonic Youth jumped ship and signed on to GeffenRecords in 1990. Their first album for Geffen, ''Goo'', represented a concentrated blast of alt-rock noise, and accordingly sold better than previous albums and spawned the band's biggest hit, "Kool Thing". In the same year, Kim's staunch support persuaded Geffen to also bring on board devoted SY fans {{Nirvana}}, making them indirectly responsible for the popularisation of {{Grunge}} in TheNineties, NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat - Nirvana and SY quickly became friends too. Their followup, ''Dirty'', was produced by Butch Vig and engineered by Andy Wallace (the guys behind ''Nevermind'') and also proved to be a decent success.

Sonic Youth hit a ''huge'' speedbump when all of their instruments, amps and gear were stolen on July 4, 1999 during their tour and their new album ''NYC Ghosts & Flowers'' quickly got a massive panning due to its self-indulgent jamming and pretentious, humourless, {{Narm}}y lyrics. However, they managed to recover quickly through the addition of new member Jim O'Rourke and releasing ''Murray Street'', which was roundly hailed as a return to form. Most of their material since has been more accessible and melodic, with the avant-garde freakouts reserved for the SYR releases. Ever since, they've recovered their stolen gear, lost O'Rourke in 2005, recruited former {{Pavement}} bassist Mark Ibold in 2006 and left Geffen in 2008, moving to indie label Matador Records.

* 1982 - ''Sonic Youth'' EP (FanonDiscontinuity for many fans, as it lacks many of the defining features of SY's later sound)

* 2002 - ''In the Fishtank 9'' EP

* 1982 - ''[[strike:Sonic Youth]]'' [[strike:EP]] (FanonDisContinuity for many fans, as it lacks many of the defining features of SY's later sound)

* 1983 - ''Confusion Is Sex'' (bundled together with the ''Kill Yr Idols'' EP on re-release by Geffen, [[YourMileageMayVary Your Mileage Will Vary Heavily]] on its quality)

* CanonDisContinuity: ''Sonic Youth'', and YourMileageMayVary but ''Confusion Is Sex'' and ''NYC Ghosts & Flowers'' are this as well.

** Well, [[YourMileageMayVary yes and no.]] They changed their sound somewhat on each of those, but none is an extremely radical departure- more a case of a each representing a subtle refinement and slight reshuffling of their sound rather than a full-out, abrupt change.

* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers loved to mock Thurston for this, saying at one point "Did you have an actual mom?". Thurston and Kim also [[YourMileageMayVary may possibly]] qualify, since they named their daughter Coco Hayley Gordon Moore.

** And last but not least, Lee, who plays in several free jazz/noise groups, provides live soundtracks to experimental films, and performs spoken word. [[BeyondTheImpossible Sometimes simultaneously.]]

* CreatorCouples: Thurston and Kim.

Sonic Youth are a legendary NoiseRock-AlternativeRock band known chiefly for its noisy, experimental avant-garde tendencies and extensive use of prepared guitars, unorthodox tunings, heavy distortion and feedback in their songs. They've been a significant influence on AlternativeRock in TheEighties and were a key influence on MyBloodyValentine and, by extension, the entire {{Shoegazing}} movement. Formed in 1981 in New York City, their current lineup is as follows:

Drawing on a wide variety of influences ranging from protopunk acts like TheStooges and VelvetUnderground and HardcorePunk to avant-garde musicians Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham and John Cage, Sonic Youth's early career was spent largely being an SensoryAbuse NoiseRock band and struggling with lack of recognition and cycling through a succession of drummers. Notably, the band sparred with music critic Robert Christgau over a dismissive review (renaming their song "Kill Yr Idols" to "I Killed Christgau With My Big Fucking Dick" in concert), had a disastrous debut in London ending in instrument destruction (which paradoxically got rave reviews) and released a mediocre debut suffering from horrible production, ''Confusion Is Sex'', that hardcore fans love but everybody else tends to ignore.

Drawing on a wide variety of influences ranging from protopunk acts like TheStooges and VelvetUnderground and HardcorePunk to avant-garde musicians Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham and John Cage, Sonic Youth's early career was spent largely being an ear-rapey NoiseRock band and struggling with lack of recognition and cycling through a succession of drummers. Notably, the band sparred with music critic Robert Christgau over a dismissive review (renaming their song "Kill Yr Idols" to "I Killed Christgau With My Big Fucking Dick" in concert), had a disastrous debut in London ending in instrument destruction (which paradoxically got rave reviews) and released a mediocre debut suffering from horrible production, ''Confusion Is Sex'', that hardcore fans love but everybody else tends to ignore.

* EpicRiff: Plenty - "Death Valley '69", "Expressway to Yr. Skull", "Teen Age Riot", "Silver Rocket", "Kool Thing", "Titanium Exposé", "100%", "Youth Against Fascism"... ah, hell, let's just say "all of their songs" and leave it at that.

** [[CompletelyMissingThePoint He's not?]]

* AGoodNameForARockBand: Thurston's explanation for the name is that it's a combination of MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith's nickname and the tendency of contemporary reggae acts to include "youth" in their names (such as "Big Youth"). The "youth" part has kind of become bitterly ironic since Thurston, Kim and Lee are in their fifties now, with Shelley and Ibold (the youngest members) not far behind.
** They were also briefly named The Arcadians, then Fucking Youth. [[AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent Which is a different matter entirely.]]
** In a magazine interview, Bob Mould of Husker Du fame remarked (at least ten years ago) that "Old Youth" would be a more appropriate name. The song "Granny Cool"--by his other former band, Sugar--is probably a TakeThat aimed at Kim Gordon. Mould apparently regards Sonic Youth as pampered and overexposed; however, he's more-or-less [[HypocriticalHumor the same age as Sonic Youth's core members, and he too]] continues to release rock recordings.
** The band Eric's Trip, evidently, thought so: having named themselves after the last song on side B of ''Daydream Nation''. Whereas "Eliminator Jr." (from side D) isn't one, although it sounds as if it should be. There's a story behind it, most likely.
*** ZZTop's album ''Eliminator'' + DinosaurJr = "Eliminator Jr." The band thought the song sounded like a cross between the two.

* DisContinuity: ''Sonic Youth'', and YourMileageMayVary but ''Confusion Is Sex'' and ''NYC Ghosts & Flowers'' are arguably this as well.

* 1982 - ''[[strike:Sonic Youth]]'' [[strike:EP]] (DisContinuity for many fans, as it lacks many of the defining features of SY's later sound)

Starting with 1984-1985, the band managed to sort out their career, finally obtaining a permanent drummer with Steve Shelley of The Crucifucks (whose hyperactive style fit the group very well indeed), getting {{Record Producer}}s with actual ears to work on their albums and toning down their extreme TrueArt-iness in favour of a middle ground between avant-garde noise and energetic AlternativeRock. With albums like ''Bad Moon Rising'', ''EVOL'', ''Sister'' and its universally-acclaimed double album ''Daydream Nation'', the band refined its SignatureStyle, striking the perfect balance between arty, experimental NoiseRock and accessible, catchy AlternativeRock. Thurston and Kim also got married in this period and have remained HappilyMarried ever since. However, not all was fun and games: the band suffered from distribution and payment issues from its indie record labels, SST and Enigma - Thurston had some particular choice words for Enigma, deriding it as a "cheap-jack Mafioso outfit" and trashing them over their difficulty in supplying ''Daydream Nation'' to stores.

* HappilyMarried: Thurston and Kim, Lee and his wife Leah.

* ShoutOut: Frequent in their songs, both in titles and lyrics - "Hey Joni", "Marilyn Moore", "Expressway to Yr. Skull"'s alternate title "Madonna, Sean and Me", "Master-Dik", "Teenage Riot" (a humorous jab at J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr's reputation for laziness), "Tunic (Song for Karen)", "My Friend Goo", "Hits of Sunshine (for Allen Ginsberg)", "Karen Koltrane", "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" (it had its title changed to "Kim Gordon and..." for legal purposes), "New Hampshire" (the Steve and Joe mentioned are the guys from {{Aerosmith}}), "Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)", "Thunderclap (for Bobby Pyn)".