which sonic youth?

I hate these kinds of polls in the same way that I hate the Cheers poll. Be real, a vote for anyone but Thurston is a vote for Cliff Claven over Sam Malone.

here is my evidence for steve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev4n7Bkn5QA

^^^ my fav SY song of all time

good call on rain on tin. steve is really great on that.

I know this is a very basic thing to say but SY didn’t really gel until Steve joined. His drumming style is basically a fourth guitar voice that meshes perfectly with the other three. One of my favourite drummers, kin to Klaus Dinger and I didn’t see anybody giving Klaus shit for having one dominant groove mode.

Lee is free.

this looks good, haven't listened yet (via Raymond C)

https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-los-angeles-1998

i was there! i remember thinking it was a boring show actually — but I was 19 and didn't know shit. the tape is awesome.

anyway, this is a band that is wayyyyyyyy more than the sum of its parts.

^^^ otm

My favourite songs are generally Thurston's so Thurston

His solo work is generally most consistent with what I like in Sonic Youth.

Psychic Hearts the song

that track really is fantastic, his finest moment in some ways, more lyrically direct than a lot of SY tunes

Kim is good. Lee is good. Steve is good. Thurston's kinda too much. Jim probably shouldn't count.

So Bob Bert it is.

xp to Psychic Hearts

Kinda the ultimate punk rock love song. In the grander, universal sense of the word love. One of the very few SY related tracks that gets me emotional.

Lee does all my favorite songs

i can't really stand Thurston Moore either, at least his personality, what happened with Kim, his embarrassing behavior in the Year Punk Broke....but he is still responsible for most of the Sonic Youth highpoints if you look at their entire career.

Some prime irritating Thurston in The Year Punk Broke, but some saving moments too.

*going at a bowl of soup*

“I need this elixir of... skinhead violence"

Lee saved them from becoming too much of the Thurston and Kim show and helped them become a much more rounded, venerable group as a whole (dodgy beat poet stuff aside)

Plus, his tunes and guitars etc

Amazing setlist on this one. Don't know if I'll shell out for any of these when there are plenty of good live shows on Youtube but a p good listen: https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-brooklyn-2011

(also via Raymond)

I saw that 98 tour in Toronto with the same setlist. I think they were very consistent with the setlist on that tour. I've heard "boring" from other people but I really enjoyed them all the three times I saw them.

(That 2011 Brooklyn show is probably one I'm most likely to shell out for if I do tbc! i'm already reconsidering, listening to it on good speakers now.)

Disappearer popped up on my playlist tonight, it was good

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i'm voting for steve shelley because hey, let's face it: drummers are cool.

also the one time i got to see them was on 4 july when they were touring rather ripped and all throughout the set, steve and lee had some sort of side banter going completely off mic and steve just kept bursting out laughing every time lee walked over, leaned in, and said something. it was very endearing.

this is a band that is wayyyyyyyy more than the sum of its parts

100% truth. That said, I'm voting Kim for the vocal on "Shadow of a Doubt," though I could just as easily vote Thurston for preaching the free jazz gospel to indie rock dorks in the 90s.

I think Steve's drumming is deceptively simple and actually super intentional, tasteful, and in the pocket. There's clearly a reason they all keep hiring him for their solo projects when they could go with anyone.

― change display name (Jordan), dimanche 26 avril 2020 17:07 (four weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

Never responded to this but, yeah, thanks, that's cool and makes sense. He does sound effective and distinctive to me.

As much as I love the tonal chaos, SY really snapped into focus for me when Steve joined. I'd say his control over the dynamics of their songs is my favourite thing about the band.

i remember seeing lee renaldo in the photographers zone all through one ATP--sonic youth were playing, i mean, he wasn't just randomly there--but he looked like he was a camera nerd in a way that i also found suggested endearing things about him

Kim is way cooler than Thurston, but they are both too rich art school for me to really relate. Lee by comparison seems a bit more approachable and I have never really remember reading an interview with Steve.

kin to Klaus Dinger and I didn’t see anybody giving Klaus shit for having one dominant groove mode.

Here's Steve actually being Klaus for Michael Rother.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp3Nt1xWjjE

Steve gets my vote for running Smells Like Records and actually tracking down Lee Hazlewood and somehow convincing him that people wanted to hear his records again.

Thanks, kind of surprised that he pulls off that motorik beat so well. I just realised that Hallogallo is probably a variation of Halligalli ("Halligalli machen", to make noise, to throw a party).

Kim is way cooler than Thurston, but they are both too rich art school for me to really relate. Lee by comparison seems a bit more approachable

Iirc, Ranaldo got a visual art degree like Gordon did (although his was from a state school), while Moore dropped out of college after a quarter semester and worked in a doughnut shop but, yeah, Ranaldo's family background was more blue-collar. Doubt that Moore grew up especially rich, with his Dad drifting between jobs and then dying when he was a teenager.

Good discussion, good points all around. Voting Thurston, the art not the artist I ftw, in this case at least.

Voted for Thurston as well.

A friend of mine one time went to some non-SY gig where Steve was on it and told me that he "couldn't keep a beat," or maybe "wouldn't" which kind of prejudiced me again him for a long time, but he seems to be the perfect drummer for this band though. Use to see Lee driving his old Mercedes Wagon near City Hall and probably would enjoy hanging at with him the most if it came to that, theoretically at least, but not going to let that sway me.

Found used copies of Kim’s Body/Head records and snatched them up happily. Struggled through them several times and I have decided they’re not for me. Similar feeling to their SYR series. I liked the idea of free range Sonic Youth but the listening experience is actively irritating.

Steve. The rest are pretentious, in various degrees

yah its sonic youth. vote kim 2020

Good poll. Midway thru Hits of Sunshine in the pre-dusk rays. Gen X Fab Four indeed

I didn't vote for Lee, but I hope to see some votes for him!

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

129 votes, heh. ILM stays true to its roots.

Oh man, Lee!

Lee only won because of the breakup

idk he was always my fave

Lee is free.

― earlnash, Sunday, April 26, 2020 4:10 PM (four weeks ago)

Lee is kinda corny, sorry.

i thought he was going to be third so i voted for him but kim is actually my favorite

Nice version of "Karen Revisited" here: https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-cabaret-metro-chicago-il-2002

saw them every year after that up through Goo, but this was the pinnacle

Such a July band. I think both times I saw them were in July.

If Leaves and Goo were swapped I could basically be made to agree with that ranking. When I say I love Sonic Youth, '02-'04 SY is generally at the forefront of my mind.

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/sonic-youth-album-guide-a-look-back-on-all-16-studio-albums/

^ this guy's 'pop' / 'punk' / 'experimental' concepts are crude tools but he writes a lot

Such a July band. I think both times I saw them were in July.

I saw their last show before all their OG gear got stolen on July 2, 1999:

She Is Not Alone
Schizophrenia
Bull in the Heather
Starfield Road
Eric's Trip
French Tickler
The Ineffable Me
Karen Koltrane
Free City Rhymes
Renegade Princess
Sugar Kane
Teenage Riot
Shadow of a Doubt
Tom Violence
Brother James

they have so many fuckin songs, how do they remember them all

Whenever they forget, they can just slide into a feedback drone for a few minutes until they’re ready to bring it back

A Thousand Leaves got me into Daydream Nation, and I still love 3/4ths of it ("Hoarfrost" is my favorite Ranaldo song ever). As much shit as I give him now, Christgau's unbending enthusiasm for ATL helped me "get it" in 1998-1999.

My ranking: https://humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/10/05/ranking-sonic-youth/

xxxp Thurston had a lot of trouble remembering lyrics, some very funny stuff abt this in Goodbye 20th Century