Photo by Gerry Visco
With the June 9 release of its latest album (and first for local indie Matador) quickly approaching, Sonic Youth—one of the most influential New York rock bands of all time—seems to be coming home to roost.
Downstairs, at the bar Home Sweet Home, bands played Sonic Youth covers while the celebrated icons—minus Thurston Moore—watched. However, the spitting image of him 25 years ago walked by complete with shaggy bowl cut, striped button down and tinted glasses.
Where did you get your look? “It’s kind of my own thing. It’s just regular jeans and a regular shirt.”
Wearing a black cotton summer dress and tall boots, Kim Gordon hung out near the bar. When’s the last time Sonic Youth played a basement? Sipping her cocktail thoughtfully, she said, “I don’t think we ever played a basement.” She smiled brightly and described her favorite cut off the new album. “I love ‘Poison Arrow.’ It’s Thurston’s sexiest vocal.” Asked whether her 15-year-old daughter likes her music, Kim pointed at a cute teenage girl and said, “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Clad in nerd glasses and high striped socks, Sonic Youth’s youth, Coco, spun around on her stool to answer. “I grew up listening to it, but it’s not something I’d put on in my room. I like old music: The Who, Kaleidoscope, The Kinks, The Ramones.”
Making it clear that she won’t be signing up for Rock the Cradle, she added, “I don’t play music. I do a lot of homework…it takes up lots of time, it’s insane.” Are you studious? “That’s me!” An androgynous teen in a Red Wings T- shirt—who had been stuck to SY drummer Steve Shelley—stood in line for the bathroom. Earlier, we had asked Shelley if she was his offspring, and shaking his head no, he’d answered, “That’s Allison [Busch], the drummer from Awesome Color.” Are you one of SY’s kids,Allison? Laughingly, she said that Kim and Thurston have only one kid, but when pressed admitted, “Yeah, I’m Steve’s kid.” Asked whether her friends come over to see her dad jam, after a long laugh she replied: “They come over to see me drum!”
Not only is the group putting out records with a small, New York–based label, but its members have spent the past week skulking downtown—below Delancey Street even!— and making it known that despite having a few decades on the kids making today’s noisy rock music, they’re still a force to be reckoned with. Without further ado, this week’s all–Sonic Youth “Bash Compactor.” — Editors
Friday night, Envoy gallery hosted a listening party for The Eternal, Sonic Youth’s latest album. Media types, musicians and booze moochers circled around a table of pizza talking loudly and drinking lukewarm beer: a rock-nerd happy hour. Nobody was really listening to the album, which sounds a lot like Daydream Nation with noisy guitars and catchy hooks.
Downstairs, at the bar Home Sweet Home, bands played Sonic Youth covers while the celebrated icons—minus Thurston Moore—watched. However, the spitting image of him 25 years ago walked by complete with shaggy bowl cut, striped button down and tinted glasses.
Where did you get your look? “It’s kind of my own thing. It’s just regular jeans and a regular shirt.”
Wearing a black cotton summer dress and tall boots, Kim Gordon hung out near the bar. When’s the last time Sonic Youth played a basement? Sipping her cocktail thoughtfully, she said, “I don’t think we ever played a basement.” She smiled brightly and described her favorite cut off the new album. “I love ‘Poison Arrow.’ It’s Thurston’s sexiest vocal.” Asked whether her 15-year-old daughter likes her music, Kim pointed at a cute teenage girl and said, “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Clad in nerd glasses and high striped socks, Sonic Youth’s youth, Coco, spun around on her stool to answer. “I grew up listening to it, but it’s not something I’d put on in my room. I like old music: The Who, Kaleidoscope, The Kinks, The Ramones.”
Making it clear that she won’t be signing up for Rock the Cradle, she added, “I don’t play music. I do a lot of homework…it takes up lots of time, it’s insane.” Are you studious? “That’s me!” An androgynous teen in a Red Wings T- shirt—who had been stuck to SY drummer Steve Shelley—stood in line for the bathroom. Earlier, we had asked Shelley if she was his offspring, and shaking his head no, he’d answered, “That’s Allison [Busch], the drummer from Awesome Color.” Are you one of SY’s kids,Allison? Laughingly, she said that Kim and Thurston have only one kid, but when pressed admitted, “Yeah, I’m Steve’s kid.” Asked whether her friends come over to see her dad jam, after a long laugh she replied: “They come over to see me drum!”
