Goo (album)

Untitled

Goo is an album by alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 26, 1990. A remastered version was released in 2005.

Goo was the first album released after the band signed to major label Geffen Records. Their albums became more accessible and less experimental, but still retained their trademark collage of noise.

Songs

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'." [1]

"Tunic (Song for Karen)", written and sung by Kim Gordon, is about singer Karen Carpenter and her anorexia:

I feel like I'm disappearing

Getting smaller every day

But when I open my mouth to sing

I'm bigger in every way

It imagines her in heaven, happy, playing the drums again and meeting new friends Dennis Wilson, Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin.[2]

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 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.[3] "Kool Thing" became the song that many casual music fans associate with the band.

The album's title derives from the song "My Friend Goo", a portrait of a friend who "sticks just like glue":

My friend Goo has a real tattoo

She always knows just what to do

She looks through her hair like she doesn't care

What she does best is stand and stare [4]

The song "Mildred Pierce" is an homage to the 1945 film Mildred Pierce starring Joan Crawford, and/or the 1941 novel by James M. Cain on which the film is based.

Cover

File:Maureen and David.jpg

Photo of David and Maureen Smith.

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 serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley,[5] driving to the trial in 1966.

The Handwritten Text reads,"I stole my sister's boyfriend. It was all whirlwind, heat, and flash. Within a week we killed my parents and hit the road."

Track listing

Original release

1. "Dirty Boots" (lyrics/vocals Thurston, backing vocal Kim) – 5:28
2. "Tunic (Song for Karen)" (lyrics/vocals Kim) – 6:22
3. "Mary-Christ" (lyrics Thurston, vocals Thurston and Kim) – 3:11
4. "Kool Thing" (lyrics/vocals Kim, guest vocals Chuck D) – 4:06
5. "Mote" (lyrics/vocals Lee) – 7:37
6. "My Friend Goo" (lyrics/vocals Kim, backing vocal Thurston) – 2:19
7. "Disappearer" (lyrics/vocals Thurston) – 5:08
8. "Mildred Pierce" (lyrics/vocals Thurston) – 2:13
9. "Cinderella's Big Score" (lyrics/vocals Kim) – 5:54
10. "Scooter + Jinx" – 1:06
11. "Titanium Exposé" (lyrics/vocals Thurston and Kim) – 6:24

Deluxe edition

Disc one

1. "Dirty Boots"
2. "Tunic (Song For Karen)"
3. "Mary-Christ"
4. "Kool Thing"
5. "Mote"
6. "My Friend Goo"
7. "Disappearer"
8. "Mildred Pierce"
9. "Cinderella's Big Score"
10. "Scooter + Jinx"
11. "Titanium Expose"
12. "Lee #2"
13. "That's All I Know (Right Now)"
14. "The Bedroom"
15. "Dr. Benway's House"
16. "Tuff Boyz"

Disc two

1. "Tunic
2. "Number One (Disappearer)"
3. "Titanium Expose"
4. "Dirty Boots"
5. "Corky (Cinderella's Big Score)"
6. "My Friend Goo"
7. "Bookstore (Mote)"
8. "Animals (Mary-Christ)"
9. "DV2 (Kool Thing)"
10. "Blowjob (Mildred Pierce)"
11. "Lee #2"
12. "I Know There's An Answer"
13. "Can Song"
14. "Isaac"
15. "Goo Interview Flexi"

Personnel

Additional backing vocals were provided by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. (tracks 2, 5, 6) and Don Fleming (tracks 1, 7).

The album was produced by Nick Sansano, who also produced Daydream Nation.

Miscellanea

• Kim's spoken word from the middle of "Kool Thing" is sampled in Ssion's cover of The Birthday Party's "Nick the Stripper" on the Release the Bats tribute album.

Album charts

Year	Album	Chart	Position
1990	Goo	Official UK Albums Chart	No. 32
1990	Goo	Billboard Top 200	No. 96

Charting singles

Year	Song	Chart	Position
1990	Kool Thing	Modern Rock Tracks (US)	No. 7
1990	Kool Thing	UK Singles Charts	No. 81