Sonic Youth (EP)

Untitled

Sonic Youth is the debut EP by Sonic Youth. It was recorded in 1981 at Radio City Music Hall, New York City and released on Glenn Branca's Neutral label in 1982. It is the only recording featuring the early Sonic Youth line-up with Richard Edson on drums.

Overview

"Sonic Youth" is the only Sonic Youth release in which the guitars use standard tuning, yet this album is representative of their early experimental, No wave roots. Despite professional production and a crisp sound quality that wouldn't be heard from the band until their major label releases, many Sonic Youth fans consider this album tame, even mellow in comparison to later albums. Drum-wise, the songs feature the more 'downtown' Roto-tom-addled stylings of Richard Edson, approaching the rhythms of 99 Records bands like ESG and Liquid Liquid. The bass, though often playing minor key riffs, is almost funk based, which was a common feature of No Wave. The clean guitar tones, sans fuzz or atonalities, contain little of the trademark noise that Sonic Youth would eventually become famous for, besides prophetic glimpses such as the static solo in "Burning Spear" & the dissonant solo in "I Don't Want To Push It". Several of the most peaceful songs in their early career are featured here, in "I Dreamed" and "She Is Not Alone." "The Good & The Bad" is a minimalist exploration of tension and repetition. The overall tone of this album is restrained in sonics yet loose in composition, as they had yet to develop into the tight and complex wall-of-noise unit which would eventually become more pop oriented with their later work; yet this contains most all the foundational elements they would later explore. Fans of their later work may find this album difficult at first, but ultimately rewarding.

"Sonic Youth" was reissued in 2006, now lasting 63:10 (making it a full length album). Added are 7 songs from a live performance recorded on September 18, 1981. Most of the tracks played were based on pieces composed by the band for the Noisefest festival held earlier in 1981, while others predate the band itself, such as Kim's song "Cosmopolitan Girl". Several of these pieces are quite different from their studio counterparts, in particular the noisy early version of "She is Not Alone". Amongst the tracks is the instrumental "Destroyer", much coveted by bootleg collectors but incredibly rare.

Also added is a studio recording of a song that appears in the live performance, "Where The Red Fern Grows". The song, an early version of "I Dreamed I Dream", was recorded in October 1981. This version is an instrumental, while on the live take Lee provides vocals (albeit very quietly).

Also added in the booklet of the reissue are new photos as well as extensive liner notes from Glenn Branca, Richard Edson, Byron Coley and a "few notes" concerning the album from Thurston Moore.

Despite the CD reissue on Geffen Records, logos for Neutral Records, which the album was originally released on, can still be found in numerous places in the package.

On the Geffen CD reissue, the tray card is double sided - the side that faces out contains the track listing with a bar code and an RIAA anti-piracy notice and the opposite side has the same track listing without a bar code or an RIAA warning.

On the 1987 cassette release of the EP by SST Records, the first side of the cassette has the same 5 tracks as the original 1982 release, but the second side has the same 5 tracks recorded in reverse, from the end of the last track to the beginning of the first. In addition, the second side's track listing printed on the cassette is the same as the first side but printed in mirror-reverse, as well as the track listing for said side on the j-card in the cassette case.

Track listing

Original release

1. "The Burning Spear" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 3:28
2. "I Dreamed I Dream" (lyrics Edson, vocals Gordon and Ranaldo) – 5:12
3. "She Is Not Alone" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 4:06
4. "I Don't Want to Push It" (lyrics Gordon, vocals Moore) – 3:35
5. "The Good and the Bad" – 7:55

2006 reissue

Tracks 1–5 are the original recording. Tracks 6–12 are from an early live recording. Track 13 is an early studio recording.

1. "The Burning Spear" – 3:28
2. "I Dreamed I Dream" – 5:12
3. "She Is Not Alone" – 4:06
4. "I Don't Want to Push It" – 3:35
5. "The Good and the Bad" – 7:55
6. "Hard Work" (lyrics Gordon, vocals Moore) – 3:19
7. "Where the Red Fern Grows" (lyrics Edson, vocals Ranaldo) – 5:47
8. "The Burning Spear" – 3:23
9. "Cosmopolitan Girl" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 3:35
10. "Loud and Soft" (lyrics/vocals Ranaldo) – 6:48
11. "Destroyer" – 5:32
12. "She Is Not Alone" – 3:29
13. "Where the Red Fern Grows" – 6:45

Personnel

• Kim Gordon – bass, vocals, guitar on "The Good and the Bad"
• Thurston Moore – guitar, vocals, bass on "The Good and the Bad"
• Lee Ranaldo – guitar, vocals
• Richard Edson – drums

References

• "Sonic Youth". Sonic Youth Discography. Retrieved July 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)