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Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth: Confusion is Sex

Listen To Real Audio
Sonic Youth,
"Protect Me You"

Sonic Youth at a glance...

Hometown: New York, NY
Year Formed: 1980

Members:
Kim Gordon -bass, guitars, vocals
Lee Ranaldo -guitars, vocals
Thurston Moore -guitars, vocals
Jim Sclavunos -drums
Bob Bert -drums
Richard Hell -backup vocals on "Making the Nature Scene"

Related artists:
Ciccone Youth, Two Dollar Guitar, Free Kitten, Lee Ranaldo, William Hooker, Velvet Monkeys, The Crucifucks, Cat Power, Nels Cline, Thurston Moore, In Limbo, The Coachmen, Mats Gustafsson, William Winant, J Mascis, Kim Deal, Pavement, Half Japanese, Mike Watt, Borbetomagus, Shonen Knife, Puzzled Panthers, Jim O'Rourke

Notes:
Sonic Youth rose triumphantly out of New York's early 80s No-Wave scene. Originally fueled by the ripping guitar of Glenn Branca alumns Ranaldo and Moore, Sonic Youth grew into - and maintain their stature as - a rock 'n' roll aural-experimentation unit beyond compare. Sometimes melodic, sometimes atonal, but rarely boring, the band have covered a lot of ground in its nearly 20-year history. From the early scene-splashing Confusion is Sex (1983) to the more polished EVOL (1986), the band's early evolution is apparent. 1988's epic Daydream Nation secured Sonic Youth's status as a legendary, visionary band which would forever leave its mark on rock 'n' roll. Subsequent albums and tours have served to bolster the band's popularity, even when not establishing any new plateaus of creativity. More recently, offshoot releases (like 1997's Perspectives Musicales series) have shown evidence of a continuing interest in experimentation. A perpetually active band, Sonic Youth will surely entertain and challenge for years to come.

Links:
Read Ink Blot's tribute to Sonic Youth, "Sonic Truth"
Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth
Confusion is Sex
Neutral, Released 1983;
Re-Released Geffen 1994
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth

Swirling emotions can be confusing. Swirling confusions can be sexy. The sexuality on this album is confusing enough to be granted its own orientation. Disorienting emotions are enticing and riveting and so is this recording. To try to catalog the variety of moods found in these songs is to try and catalog the range of moods in a person's life.

The feelings come through the rangy guitar spells, the plodding bass, the active drums. The feelings come through the child-like vocals of "Protect Me You" where we witness Gordon as a 10 year-old girl pleading through her confusion. Behind her, shrieking sounds seem to both scare her and comfort her. The primitive and live "I Wanna Be Your Dog" leads into the nearly danceable opening of "Shaking Hell." But that bounciness gives way to intimidation and the erratic fears of a threatened woman. "Inhuman" and "The World Looks Red" leave no empty spaces. Any potential voids are filled - by piercing vocals, bursting flourishes and crashes, and the occasional tension-building up-the-neck riff - that pull and push with equal force.

"I maintain that:/Chaos is the future and beyond is freedom/Confusion is next after that is the truth." Chanted. Out of key. Confident. "Confusion is Next" inverts sound and lyric in its declaration: "Sonic tooth." There seems to be a drive towards meaning and statement. Though it is unclear and confusing, the foundation is being laid. Something elusive is bubbling in the words and sounds. The perfect setup for the album's centerpiece, "Making the Nature Scene." "The city has forgotten you," it says with legitimate poignancy. Gordon's wise but somehow distant delivery seems to carry truth. Musings on the natural world of the city are painted beneath the looming and busy buzzes, pings, and general wash of squeakiness - a cityscape indeed.

If you like Sonic Youth, check out:
Sonic Youth EVOL
Sonic Youth Washing Machine
Sonic Youth Dirty
Sonic Youth Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth Sister
Sonic Youth Bad Moon Rising
Sonic Youth Goo
Sonic Youth Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star
Sonic Youth Goodbye 20th Century
Sonic Youth NYC Ghosts & Flowers
Lee Ranaldo Amarillo Ramp
The Velvet Underground Loaded
Nirvana Bleach
Blonde Redhead Blonde Redhead
Mogwai Come On Die Young
Nels Cline and Thurston Moore Pillow Wand
MC5 Kick Out the Jams
William Hooker Hard Time
Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Sonic Youth

-- Aaron Goldweber

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