Ranking the 10 best Sonic Youth songs
Sonic Youth will forever be one of the greatest and most influential bands of all time. Forming in New York City during the early 1980s, the band became an important member of the no-wave scene, a reaction against the commerciality of the new-wave genre. Instead, no-wave focused on experimenting with noise in new ways, resulting in often abrasive and dissonant sounds.
Founded by Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, and Lee Ranaldo, the band were later joined by Steve Shelley on drums, as well as Jim O’Rourke from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold from 2006 to 2011. After their emergence from the no-wave scene, they became prominent members of the noise-rock and alt-rock scene, frequently praised for redefining the capabilities of a guitar. They were known for using unique methods of extracting sounds, such as using alternative tuning or attacking their strings with screwdrivers.
Sonic Youth were greatly inspired by the likes of The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Joni Mitchell, and The Stooges, as well as hardcore punk acts such as Minor Threat. These wide-ranging influences can be heard in both their lyrics and unique instrumentation. For example, Joni Mitchell not only inspired the band’s lyricism but also their use of alternative tuning. Although the two sound completely different, the band were able to take a lot of inspiration from the folk artist, proving how innovative and experimental the band were capable of being.
From the darkness of their earlier works, such as Evol and Bad Moon Rising, to their hugely successful and more cohesive albums Goo and Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth have a very large catalogue to their name. Thus, it is a difficult task to whittle down their best songs to just ten. However, these tracks have helped define the band throughout the decades and demonstrate their immense musical and lyrical skill.
Ranking the 10 best Sonic Youth songs:
10. ‘Death Valley ’69’
Appearing on Sonic Youth’s second album Bad Moon Rising, ‘Death Valley ’69’ is a hauntingly visceral track sung from the perspective of a Manson Family member. The unnerving track is a duet between Moore and popular no-wave artist Lydia Lunch, who co-wrote the lyrics.
Lunch’s desperate squeals of “hit it, hit it” accompany building guitars that eventually find a moment of release with a thrashing crescendo that perfectly encapsulates the fearful atmosphere of 1969, the year that the Manson family carried out the brutal Tate–LaBianca murders.
9. ‘Catholic Block’
The band’s fourth album, Sister, was released in 1987 and remains one of their greatest works. Including the likes of ‘Schizophrenia’ and ‘Tuff Gnarl’, Sister is one of Sonic Youth’s many masterpieces. However, one of the standout tracks, and one of the band’s greatest, is ‘Catholic Block’.
Powering through riffs at an immense speed, the song is a chaotic frenzy that features Moore’s playful lyrics, “I got a catholic block/ do you like to fuck?” A distant scream by Gordon near the end of the track ties the mayhem together perfectly.
8. ‘Tunic (Song for Karen)’
Gordon shines on Goo’s ‘Tunic (Song for Karen)’. The track was written as a tribute to singer and drummer Karen Carpenter, who died aged 32 from anorexia in 1983, and imagines her playing the drums up in heaven. Gordon sings: “Hey mom, look I’m up here, I finally made it/ I’m playing the drums again too/ Don’t be sad, the band doesn’t sound half bad.”
‘Tunic (Song for Karen)’ is one of Sonic Youth’s most moving tracks that really showcases Gordon’s incredible skill for writing. Poignant lyrics include, “I’m disappearing, getting smaller every day / But I look in the mirror and I’m bigger in every way”. Gordon’s attempt to “liberate” Carpenter is undoubtedly a standout moment in the band’s discography.
7. ‘100%’
The screeching guitars that flow underneath the grungy laid back riff on ‘100%’ seem to carry the emotional weight matched in the song’s lyrics. The upbeat track is actually about the murder of Joe Cole, a Black Flag roadie and friend of Sonic Youth who was murdered as part of an unprovoked attack outside his home.
Despite being one of the band’s more radio-friendly tracks, the drum solo that dominates the centre of the track is just too good. The band proved that they were plenty capable of making accessible alt-rock tracks alongside long, experimental art-rock pieces, which were both as good as each other.
6. ‘Kool Thing’
Gordon takes centre stage in ‘Kool Thing’ from the band’s sixth album Goo. The track was inspired by a conversation she had had with rapper LL Cool J, in which the pair could find little in common. Gordon found the rapper to have a rather misogynistic outlook, and her attempt to explain The Stooges was countered by LL Cool J’s declaration of love for Bon Jovi.
Employing the help of Public Enemy’s Chuck D, Gordon satirised the conversation with references to LL Cool J lyrics alongside self-mocking jabs at her own politics, “Are you gonna liberate us girls / from male white corporate oppression?”. The song is an earworm, that’s for sure, and you’ll undoubtedly find yourself singing along.
5. ‘Teenage Riot’
Arguably one of the band’s best-known songs, ‘Teenage Riot’ helped to expand Sonic Youth’s audience and bring them closer to the mainstream. Coming in at seven minutes, the opening guitar riff of the Daydream Nation track is ethereal and dreamy, however, this transforms into a heady riff that encapsulates the beauty and raw energy of Sonic Youth’s discography in one song.
The hypnotising melody that opens the track is accompanied by gentle ramblings by Gordon, before Moore takes over in a more anthemic tone. ‘Teenage Riot’, is about an alternative reality where Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis is the “de facto alternative dream president”. The track would undoubtedly sound just as refreshing if it were released today, over 30 years later.
4. ‘Incinerate’
From the band’s 14th album Rather Ripped came a set of succinct tracks, including ‘Incinerate,’ a simple and slightly bitter-sweet-sounding song. Acting as the album’s only single, the gently upbeat riffs accompany Moore’s smooth voice as he uses incineration as a metaphor for burning passion.
For the music video, the band employed French arthouse filmmaker Claire Denis as director, who shoots the band in close-up shots as they play the track. ‘Incinerate’ has a warmth to it that seems a world away from the likes of Bad Moon Rising and Confusion is Sex, demonstrating the band’s musical range whilst also retaining their signature guitar tone.
3. ‘Kill Yr Idols’
Sonic Youth’s debut album, released in 1983, is an important example of the no-wave and experimental genre. Often making for uncomfortable listening, the album was hugely influential, and contains many of Sonic Youth’s trademark sounds. The track ‘Kill Yr Idols’ only appears on the album in later reissues, which merged the similar 1983 ‘Kill Yr Idols’ EP with their debut album.
‘Kill Yr Idols’ is a masterpiece of noise-making, with Moore screeching over wobbling guitar sounds, urging listeners to stop idolising other people and become their own idol. The song builds with a fast-paced drum beat that spurs the song’s message along, before Moore finally announces that: “It’s the end of the world/ and confusion is sex.”
2. ‘Mildred Pierce’
Another cut from Goo, ‘Mildred Pierce’, named after the Michael Curtiz film from 1945, is one of the band’s shorter tracks, yet it explodes with enough power and raw intensity that its two minutes can be addictively played over and over. Largely instrumental until Moore bursts into deranged shouts of ‘Mildred Pierce!!”, the track is a solid demonstration of just how talented the band are at creating driven instrumentation.
The music video for ‘Mildred Pierce’ features a young Sofia Coppola, who was close with the band, playing Joan Crawford’s iconic role by appearing increasingly wide-eyed and manic as she thrusts her face into the camera. Now a successful filmmaker, it was Moore’s suggestion that she read The Virgin Suicides that led to her directorial debut.
1. ‘Silver Rocket’
Despite appearing directly after ‘Teenage Riot’ on Daydream Nation, ‘Silver Rocket’ contains a raucous, driving energy that wouldn’t be out of place on Sister or Evol. A fairly consumable riff opens up the song before it breaks down into incohesive feedback sounds and piercing guitars.
Then, the track melts into a militaristic drum beat that gets faster and faster, eventually leading back to an inescapably catchy riff. The punk influence is quickly overturned by a noisy soundscape that depicts the different influences at play toying for dominance. ‘Silver Rocket’ is, quite simply, a quintessential Sonic Youth track.
