A selection of Thurston Moore’s favourite New York anthems
On the surface, the one thing that unites all the disparate American punk scenes is that outsider feeling, that attitude that comes from not fitting in anywhere else and finding somewhere to belong. The irony is that despite this (or maybe because of it), all those disparate American punk scenes were rigidly territorial, to the point of being parochial. Very few bands could fit in anywhere, and one of the ones that could were Sonic Youth.
They could thrash with the DC hardcore kids and chime with the Minneapolis sound. They had the wit and musical daring of the So-Cal punks and, obviously, were a formative band for the Seattle grunge scene. However, above everything, they were a Noo Yawk band through and through.
That no wave sensibility is shot through their entire sound. An uncompromising, feedback-soaked, unblinking stare at so-called traditional punk. Weighing their spiked-up hair and Sex Pistols knock-offs and finding them wanting.
So, it checks out that when Thurston Moore made a definitive list of his favourite songs, there was a sprinkling of tracks from every regional punk scene in the country. However, the most important for him was the New York contingent. Made up of some of the most influential acts in American rock music, let alone punk. So, let’s have a look at them and see how they make the co-lead of one of the most important acts in alternative rock tick!
Thurston Moore’s favourite New York anthems:
4. Lou Reed – ‘Satellite of Love’
Is it really a piece of rock writing about New York if Lou Reed isn’t in there somewhere? He’s one of the city’s most beloved musical sons, even if that statement probably made him roll in his grave. It’s no surprise then that The Velvet Underground’s head honcho finds himself in pride of place near the top of Moore’s list of his favourite tracks.
On the surface, this swooning ballad makes for a strange choice. However, even with this song, one of his more accessible pieces from the album that aimed for David Bowie-esque crossover stardom, that alternative, leering edge is never far away. It is, after all, a song secretly about “the worst kind of jealousy”, as Reed put it to David Fricke for the liner notes of Peel Slowly And See.
3. Teenage Jesus & the Jerks – ‘Orphans’
See, Lydia Lunch got it. Like, she really got it. Need proof? I mean, apart from the bilious blast of proto-noise rock that makes up her band’s first single? Well, this is the woman who told Simon Reynolds in the pages of his seminal post-punk book Rip It Up, “I hated almost the entirety of punk rock. Who wanted chords? To this day, I still don’t know a single chord on the guitar.”
It stands to reason she’d go on to have a celebrated legacy in punk rock. Not only that, but she also worked with Sonic Youth a bunch of times. That’s her on ‘Death Valley 69’, one of their most disturbing and atmospheric works ever, and then when she got The Jerks back together for a few reunion shows in 1979, Thurston Moore himself took up bass duties for the whole tour. When Moore looked back on her discography, it was ‘Orphans’ that stood out.
2. Patti Smith – ‘Godspeed’
Lou Reed may have secured a record deal first, but there’s an equally compelling argument, if not more, that that OG New York punk was Patti Smith. Especially in reflection of what the scene would become. Eschewing tired rock ‘n’ roll tropes, publicity stunts and outlandish costumes for intense artistry, Converse and that intimidating, stalwart NYC cool. She was also the only one to, y’know, sell a few copies of her records in her home country.
Nothing major, you understand, but she did have a hit in the deathless Springsteen collab, ‘Because The Night’. What really shook Moore, though, was the song’s B-Side, ‘Godspeed’. He told Rolling Stone, “It’s a very heavy song, very evocative, very strange, and very spiritual. It’s not a very verse/chorus/verse/chorus song, and hearing it was very formative to me because of that approach.”
1. Bush Tetras – ‘Too Many Creeps’
In true hipster fashion, we end with the band that did everything Sonic Youth did but without the fame. Bush Tetras were a fellow no wave band formed as the 1980s dawned. Most importantly, though, their guitarist, Pat Place, was a key influence on the way a young Thurston Moore viewed what could be done with six strings and an amp.
Speaking of influence, though, if I were to say that this was a lesser-spotted LCD Soundsystem track with a guest vocalist, it wouldn’t be that farfetched, would it? In ‘Too Many Creeps’, Bush Tetras predicted what the lifeblood of NYC music would sound like two decades later, which was the kind of forward-thinking that appealed to a visionary like Thurston Moore.
