The Greatest American Band Debate: Sonic Youth

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

So, it's Wednesday, and I'm going to get back to my regular writing schedule, so that means a new band is going to be nominated for the greatest American band. Today, I'm going to write about a band that has been on my mind for some time now. I didn't quite know how I was going to describe why I think this band belongs in the conversation, so I sat down and I have listened to a lot of their music for the past couple of weeks. Now, I'm going to talk about albums, or even particular songs, when explaining why I think this band is one of America's greatest. In fact, I'm going to talk about the members and, more importantly, their use of different sounds and effects. That is what made the band Sonic Youth so memorable and incredible.

Sonic Youth formed in 1981, the year before I was born, in New York. There were four of them, and looked kind of nerdy and, I bet many people thought they were a pop band, or were trying to be a punk band. Well, Thurston Moore, guitar and vocals, Kim Gordon, bass and vocals, Lee Ranaldo, guitar and vocals, and a plethora of drummers, most notably, Steve Shelley, were not a pop band. Or a punk band. Or, really, any genre of band. They would come out and perform some of the weirdest, wildest, trippiest and coolest sounding music, that almost no one had heard before. I know some people credit them, or lump them in with the "no wave" art scene, but they are the pioneers of noise rock. And more importantly, noise rock that was actually listenable. Other noise rock bands were, and are, like jam bands. They have no flow to their music. They use art as an excuse for why they are crappy. They have no band structure. But not Sonic Youth. They transformed noise rock. They made people want to hear more and more of it. They had structure. They had focus.

Kim Gordon is one of the better punk/noise rock/ rock singers that I have ever heard. She is also one hell of a bass player and a straight up rock and roller. Kim Gordon kicks ass. She is not only one of the greatest female musicians and singers of all time, she is just flat out one of the greatest singers and musicians of all time. Thurston Moore is an impeccable singer and song writer. He is also a great guitar player as well. He was kind of the heart and soul of Sonic Youth. He, along with Gordon, were the ones pushing the envelope and trying new things and they succeeded way more than not. Gordon and Moore were a match made in music heaven. No wonder they didn't get along behind the scenes. Two geniuses like that always end up fighting with each other. I know that they were married for almost 3 decades, 27 years I believe, but I can't imagine the type of bickering they did back stage. Lee Ranaldo is kind of the forgotten member of the band, but he was an integral part. He made some of the wildest sounds I had ever heard on guitar. He was the guy behind some of their iconic records and singles. He is a very under appreciated guitar player. Shelley, the most memorable drummer, was also very influential in their odd, yet intriguing sound. He had to keep the beat and add crazy fills that, had it been someone else, I don't think the band would have worked.

Let's get back to why I'm nominating them today. It is/was that sound that I keep mentioning. When I first heard Sonic Youth I was in middle school. I was starting to get into different music, pushing away from my pop-rap phase, and I was handed a few Sonic Youth records, most memorable for me, "Daydream Nation". That album was so weird and odd to me the first time I listened. I didn't have the brain capacity yet to understand why this was good. So, I stashed the record away and didn't revisit it until almost 10 years later, during my second year of college. My musical mind was much more vast and expansive and I figured I'd give Sonic Youth and "Daydream Nation" another shot. Boy am I glad that I did. I was hearing this unique, different sound from anything I ever listened to. It would start out as punk rock, turn to rock, turn into new wave, go back to punk rock, and finish with rock and some blues splashed in for good measure. Their time signatures were all over the place as well. Most bands do 3/4 or 4/4, those are the staples, but Sonic Youth was doing 5/7, 6/9, basically anything that wasn't the norm. It completely blew my mind. Then, the way they used effects on certain songs, incredible. They would throw all kinds of weird and wild distortion, loops, wah pedals, anything they could and it all worked.

The stuff Sonic Youth was doing back in the 80's and 90's was so ahead of its time. They don't need a genre or an era because their sound and their music is timeless. Well, it may not have flown in the 50's, but Sonic Youth could have been around in the 70's with psychadelia, the 80's with new wave, the 90's with grunge rock, or the 2000's as just an all around great band. Sonic Youth is an incredible band that, I feel, gets unfairly lumped in with 90's grunge. Sure, that is when they hit it big, but they are so much better and more experimental than any grunge band. I'd take Sonic Youth any day over grunge bands that I adore, like Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Both Pearl Jam and Nirvana are great, but they don't hold a card to the wonderfulness that is Sonic Youth.

Sonic Youth opened my mind to experimental music and to noise rock. I will be forever grateful to them for all the trippy music they have given me, and the world. Sonic Youth most definitely belongs in the greatest American band debate. Go listen to their stuff and try and tell me that you don't agree. Sonic Youth is awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Make sure you check out all the bands we have featured as the Greatest American Band, and nominate one of your favorites (No Eagles allowed). Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.