Sonic Youth
Goo Deluxe Edition (Geffen)
Sonic Youth’s major label debut was originally going to be titled Blowjob, because in 1991, that was still considered “edgy.” They chose Goo instead and were called sellouts for going in a more “pop” direction. Strangely enough, this 2-CD remastered edition sounds better 15 years later than half the crap currently flowing out of “pop” music’s dried-up udders. Sonic Youth have always been rock music, however experimental or jammy they tend to be. On Goo, they embraced the trashy L.A. punk under-/overground on songs like “Dirty Boots” and “Tunic,” a chiming romp sung by bassist Kim Gordon as Karen Carpenter in heaven (“Richard are you there I can’t see? Is this how it was meant to be?”). The shambolic “Kool Thing” encapsulates that Gen-X early-Nineties take on politics and feminism, with a special appearance by Chuck D. Outtakes “The Bedroom,” a churning instrumental about skinhead moms, and the poppy “That’s All I Know (Right Now)” show how raw their range could be. Disc two is 8-track demos and previously unreleased songs. “Blowjob” is twice as long as its alternate version, “Mildred Pierce,” continuing into squall after the screamo breakdown. The bratty “Animals” sounds even more effed-up than “Mary-Christ,” and the six-minute interview with Thurston Moore at the end is priceless. Byron Coley’s liner notes extrapolate upon the group’s “then-ness,” when “Sonic Youth were moving out of the shadows of the underground into the, uh, shadows of the overground.” Their noise is no less important now; it’s just a little clearer.
This article appears in December 16 • 2005.