Goo (album)

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Goo
Studio album by Sonic Youth
Released June 26, 1990
Recorded March—April 1990 at Sorcerer Sound Recording Studios and Greene St. Recording in New York City, New York
Genre Alternative rock, noise rock, experimental rock
Length 49:23
Label DGC
Producer Nick Sansano, Ron Saint Germain
Sonic Youth chronology
Daydream Nation
(1988)		 Goo
(1990)		 Dirty
(1992)
Singles from Goo
  1. "Kool Thing"
    Released: June 1990
  2. "Disappearer"
    Released: 1990
  3. "Dirty Boots"
    Released: April 1991
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars 1990 release
Robert Christgau (A-) 1990 release
Entertainment Weekly (A) deluxe edition
Pitchfork Media (8.5/10) deluxe edition
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars deluxe edition

Goo is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 26, 1990 on DGC Records. The album was Sonic Youth's debut release on a major record label, after the band was signed by Geffen Records following the release of Daydream Nation (1988).

Goo was recorded over a short period in early 1990 at Sorcerer Sound Recording Studios and Greene St. Recording with Daydream Nation producer Nick Sansano and additional producer Ron Saint Germain. The album's sound diverged considerably from their earlier material and is often considered "their most accessible album"[1] and resulted in the release of the lead single, "Kool Thing," a song that casual fans associate with the band.[2] Two other singles—"Disappearer" and "Dirty Boots"—were also released from the album, although neither were as successful as "Kool Thing," which charted in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Upon its release, Goo was a moderate commercial success, peaking at number 96 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and charting in The Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Critical reception to the album was positive. To support its release, Sonic Youth toured Europe and North America twice in 1990.[3] Following the mainstream success of alternative rock and grunge, the band toured Europe again in fall 1991 with Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, Babes in Toyland and Gumball.[4] The latter tour was chronicled on the documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke, directed by Dave Markey.[5] A two-disc/four-LP deluxe edition of the album was released in 2005 with outtakes, demos and live tracks.

Pitchfork Media listed Goo as 82nd best album of the 1990s.

Contents

[edit] Background

Following the release of Daydream Nation in 1988, Sonic Youth were interested in signing with a new record label. By the middle of 1989, the top contenders for the band's new label were A&M Records, Atlantic Records, and Mute Records.[6] Between late 1989 and early 1990, Geffen Records announced its interest in signing the band.[7] Sonic Youth eventually signed a five-album deal with Geffen for at an estimated $300,000.[8] However, the band was disappointed when they discovered that the albums would be released on the newly-created Geffen sub-label, DGC Records.[9]

Although Sonic Youth's contract had no routine industry stipulation to recording demos for its albums, the band recorded a series of demos in November 1989 to give DGC an idea of what material they were producing, as well as to form a basis for the album.[10] The demos were recorded at Waterworks Recording with Jim Waters as an engineer, and Don Fleming and Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis assisting production. During these sessions, Goo was known under the working title Blowjob?, a name based on Raymond Pettibon's artwork and the band's desire to test Geffen's sense of humor.[11] All songs that would later appear on Goo songs were recorded except for "Scooter & Jinx.". Several songs written by Lee Ranaldo, in their embryonic forms, were recorded including "Mote" (originally titled "Bookstore") and the instrumental "Lee #2."

[edit] Recording

Although Geffen initially suggested that the band work with producer Daniel Lanois on the record, the band chose to produce Goo by itself with Nick Sansano, who produced Daydream Nation, as an engineer. At Sansano's recommendation, the band chose to record at New York's Sorcerer Sound Recording Studio. Meanwhile, Dinosaur Jr. guitarist J. Mascis convinced Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley to buy a larger drumkit.[12] While the new songs were already arranged, the band and Sansano incorporated new recording techniques whenever they could, such as hanging microphones from the studio's catwalk and isolating Shelley in a drum booth. Sonic Youth considered hiring David Markey to film a documentary of the album's production, but due to recurring problems during recording ("It took us forever to get final takes", guitarist Lee Ranaldo recalled), the band abandoned the idea. Once basic tracks were completed, the sessions moved to Green Street studio in order to finish the song and perform album mixing.[13] By the time the album was completed, its cost came out to $150,000.[14]

[edit] Music

The album's lead track, "Dirty Boots", evokes old blues slang in its declaration that "It's time to rock the road/And tell the story of the jelly rollin'/Dirty boots are on/Hi de ho."[15]

The second track, "Tunic (Song for Karen)", is about Karen Carpenter, a pop drummer and singer who died from anorexia nervosa. It imagines her in heaven, happy, playing the drums again and meeting new friends Dennis Wilson, Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin.[16][17]

The album featured the single "Kool Thing", on which Chuck D from the rap group Public Enemy guested. The song is purported to be about the disillusionment that bass player Kim Gordon experienced after interviewing LL Cool J for Spin Magazine the previous year. "Are you going to liberate us girls from male, white, corporate oppression?" Gordon asks in the song.[18] "Kool Thing" became the song that many casual music fans associate with the band. The album version of "Mary-Christ" fades out with a portion of the intro to "Kool Thing". This is because in the recording session for "Mary-Christ" the band went right into "Kool Thing", but this take of "Kool Thing" was not chosen for the album. "Kool Thing" was featured prominently in Hal Hartley's indie film "Simple Men."

"Mildred Pierce" is one of the first Sonic Youth songs ever written. It is also one of the few to use standard guitar tuning.[19] The title comes from the Joan Crawford film of the same name.

The album's title derives from the song "My Friend Goo", a portrait of a friend who "sticks just like glue."[20] According to the Sonic Youth website, a considered title was "Blow Job?" for a while.[21] This was also the working title for "Mildred Pierce".

[edit] Packaging

The cover is a Raymond Pettibon illustration based on a paparazzi photo of Maureen Hindley and her first husband David Smith, witnesses in the case of the "Moors Murders" serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, driving to the trial in 1966.

In 2008, Scottish band The Twilight Sad released an EP called ...Killed My Parents and Hit the Road. The name and album artwork, which features a re-work of the Goo cover in the style of previous Twilight Sad artwork, are homages to Goo. According to vocalist James Graham, the Goo pastiche was the idea of guitarist Andy MacFarlane. Graham commented, "[The Twilight Sad] were playing in America with Mogwai [...] and Thurston Moore [came] to the gig. So we were thinking 'fuck' and hoping he didn't see the merchandise table. They haven't sued us though. Yet."[22]

[edit] Track listing

All music composed by Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley.

No. Title Lyrics Vocalist Length
1. "Dirty Boots"   Moore Moore 5:28
2. "Tunic (Song for Karen)"   Gordon Gordon 6:22
3. "Mary-Christ"   Moore Moore, Gordon 3:11
4. "Kool Thing"   Gordon Gordon 4:06
5. "Mote"   Ranaldo Ranaldo 7:37
6. "My Friend Goo"   Gordon Gordon, Moore 2:19
7. "Disappearer"   Moore Moore 5:08
8. "Mildred Pierce"   Moore Moore 2:13
9. "Cinderella's Big Score"   Gordon Gordon 5:54
10. "Scooter + Jinx"   — — 1:06
11. "Titanium Exposé"   Moore, Gordon Moore, Gordon 5:08
Total length:
 49:23

[edit] Deluxe edition

Disc one[23]
Disc two[23]

[edit] Personnel

Sonic Youth[24]
Guest musicians[24]
  • J Mascis – backing vocals (on "Tunic," "Mote" and "My Friend Goo")
  • Don Fleming – backing vocals (on "Dirty Boots" and "Disappearer")
  • Chuck D. - additional vocals (on "Kool Thing")
Technical personnel[24]
Art personnel[24]

[edit] Video

In 1991, a long-form music video version of Goo was released on VHS and Laserdisc. A music video for each song from the album is included; the track listing is identical to the "original release" list above. In 2004, nearly the entire contents of the Goo video was included on the DVD compilation Corporate Ghost: The Videos: 1990-2002; only a short fragment that appeared after the conclusion of "Titanium Exposé" on the 1991 video is missing.

[edit] Chart positions

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Dutch Top 40[25] 71
New Zealand Albums Chart[26] 22
UK Albums Chart[27] 32
US Billboard 200[28] 96

[edit] Singles

Year Single Peak positions
US
[29]		 UK
[30]		 IRL
[31]
1990 "Kool Thing" 7 81 24

[edit] References

Bibliography
References
  1. ^ Fiona Sturges (June 7, 2002). "Sonic Youth: Join the club- Features, Music - The Independent". The Independent. http://web.archive.org/web/20081224055743/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/sonic-youth-join-the-club-644622.html. Retrieved March 1, 2009.  Archived from the original.
  2. ^ John Wallis (July 21, 2004). "Sonic Youth – Corporate Ghost: Videos, 1990–2002: DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/11647/sonic-youth-corporate-ghost-videos-1990-2002/. Retrieved March 1, 2009. 
  3. ^ "sonic youth concert chronology - 1990". Sonic Youth Concert Chronology. http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/cc/1990.html. Retrieved February 5, 2012. 
  4. ^ "sonic youth concert chronology - 1991". Sonic Youth Concert Chronology. http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/cc/1991.html. Retrieved February 5, 2012. 
  5. ^ "1991: The Year Punk Broke (1992) - IMDb". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103595/. Retrieved February 5, 1992. 
  6. ^ Browne, p. 194
  7. ^ Browne, p. 195
  8. ^ Browne, p. 197
  9. ^ Browne, p. 202
  10. ^ Browne, p. 204
  11. ^ "SONIC YOUTH DISCOGRAPHY - ALBUM: GOO". Sonic Youth Discography. http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/lp/lp8.html. Retrieved February 5, 2012. 
  12. ^ Browne, p. 206
  13. ^ Browne, p. 207
  14. ^ Browne, p. 210
  15. ^ Sonic Youth - Goo
  16. ^ * We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Gerri Hirshey, 2001, ISBN 0-87113-788-7, on "Tunic", quoting Kim Gordon in Rolling Stone magazine.
  17. ^ Sonic Youth - Goo
  18. ^ Sonic Youth - Goo
  19. ^ "Sonic Youth Site Menu". Sonicyouth.com. http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/sy/song92.html. Retrieved 2011-09-28. 
  20. ^ Sonic Youth - Goo
  21. ^ "Sonic Youth Site Menu". Sonicyouth.com. http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/sy/song92a.html. Retrieved 2011-09-28. 
  22. ^ Musoguide - The Twilight Sad - The Same But Different
  23. ^ a b "Amazon.com: Goo: Sonic Youth: Music". Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Goo-Sonic-Youth/dp/B0007ZIYWY. Retrieved February 4, 2012. 
  24. ^ a b c d (1990) Album notes for Goo by Sonic Youth [CD]. DGC (9-24297-D2).
  25. ^ "dutchcharts.nl - Sonic Youth - Goo". dutchcharts.nl. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Sonic+Youth&titel=Goo&cat=a. Retrieved February 4, 2012. 
  26. ^ "charts.org.nz - Sonic Youth - Goo". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Sonic+Youth&titel=Goo&cat=a. Retrieved February 4, 2012. 
  27. ^ "SONIC YOUTH | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/sonic%20youth/#albums. Retrieved February 4, 2012. 
  28. ^ "Goo - Sonic Youth | Billboard.com". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/album/sonic-youth/goo/15837. Retrieved February 4, 2012. 
  29. ^ "Kool Thing - Sonic Youth | Billboard.com". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/song/sonic-youth/kool-thing/308063. Retrieved February 4, 2012. 
  30. ^ "Chart Stats - Sonic Youth". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=6016. Retrieved February 4, 2012. 
  31. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irish Singles Chart. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved February 4, 2012. N.B. User must define search parameters and enter either "Sonic Youth" into Search By Artist or "Kool Thing" into Search By Song Title.
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