Sister

Performer: Sonic Youth
Engineer: Bill Titus
Producer: Sonic Youth
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Sonic Youth: Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo (vocals, guitar); Kim Gordon (vocals, bass); Steve Shelley (drums). Additional personnel: Walter Sear (programming). Originally released on SST (134). With SISTER, Sonic Youth moved even further from the self-conscious punk rock that marred their first releases, SONIC YOUTH (1982) and CONFUSION IS SEX (1983). Incorporating heavy echo effects--especially on bassist Kim Gordon's vocal turns like "Beauty Lies in the Eye"--and Steve Shelley's propulsive and nuanced drumming, SISTER shows the band refining its signature sound with vocal harmonies and great slabs of rusty guitar. The sound developed by the band here helped shape the course of American independent rock. "Catholic Block" creates fascinating tensions between its various instruments, using an almost hypnotic pulse during the verses, while the bridges devolve into near-freeform experimentation. The distorted foundation of "Cotton Crown" ebbs and flows, laying a base that gives the almost ballad-like song an epic feel that suggest it could go on forever--it is one of the band's best moments. The record concludes with an odd-ball bonus track, "Master-Dik," a bizarre "white-guy" rap from a 12" single that includes a lot of naughty words, in addition to Thurston Moore singing along with a short sample from the Rolling Stones "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." SISTER is a state-of-the-art rock album that shows no signs of aging--a classic.

Q (7/96, p.144) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...The New Yorker's masterpiece....erased the more indulgent bits from EVOL and concentrated Sonic Youth's talent for gently tortured rock; an emotive, inventive pre-grunge..." Alternative Press (p.200) - "[I]ts inventive arrangements and distressed guitar work are shockingly accessible-sounding..." Alternative Press (7/95, p.75) - Ranked #3 in AP's list of the `Top 99 Of '85-'95' - "...The focus here wasn't clear, it was city blocks and bits of old farms tied together with broken guitar strings and awesome noise. The band were trying as hard as they could, and they got ultimate beauty both uncontrollable and irreplaceable..." CMJ (1/5/04, p.20) - Ranked #13 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1987" Melody Maker (5/4/96, p.58) - "...The mid-period Sonic LPs, specifically SISTER and DAYDREAM NATION, are generally regarded as their most fully realised..." NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #80 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.' NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #37 in NME's list of the `50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s.'

Drawing equally from punk rock and new-music pioneers such as John Cage and Glenn Branca (whom guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo both played with), Sonic Youth employed a palette of white noise that deconstructed punk-rock orthodoxy into radical new configurations. Seemingly the opposite of what major labels would want in a band, Sonic Youth inked a deal with Geffen records in the late 1980s and caught the ear of a certain mainstream listenership. With the release of their 16th proper studio album, RATHER RIPPED, in 2006, Sonic Youth secured their position as icons of underground and alternative culture.

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