Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Massage Celebrate the history

Prompted by the release of her new LP No Home Record, Spin's Andy Cush has published an article entitled "13 Best Sonic Youth Songs That Put Kim Gordon Center Stage".

His selection includes a number of real gems that are undisputable high points of the band's career, let alone Gordon's own: 'Shadow Of A Doubt', 'Pacific Coast Highway', 'Cross The Breeze', 'Tunic (Song For Karen)', 'Kool Thing', 'Little Trouble Girl'. Of the less celebrated songs, 'Jams Run Free' is an interesting choice. I certainly like but have never quite loved the album on which it appears, Rather Ripped, and Cush's comments make me inclined to listen again.

Of course, this being a listicle and me being a blog-writing music nerd, I can't refrain from raising a few personal quibbles. While 'Swimsuit Issue' is a solid pick, by far and away the best Kim-fronted song on Dirty, surely, is 'Drunken Butterfly' - a song I've previously described as "a quite glorious cacophonous headfuck explosion of noise that sounded to my wet-behind-the-ears ears like something that had been beamed in from another dimension", and one that subsequently proved absolutely critical in the formation/development of my musical tastes. Meanwhile, I approve of Cush's selection of 'Massage The History' but disagree with his assessment of The Eternal - indeed, I'd suggest that its opening track 'Sacred Trickster' would also be worthy of inclusion.

You might assume that Gordon - recently given the dubious distinction of being named a Q Hero - would be a bit miffed at the fact that her debut solo release has prompted someone to wax lyrical about former glories with her old bandmates. But in a tweet she's claimed to have enjoyed the nostalgia trip, describing her time in Sonic Youth as "magical": "I can now marvel at it and know nothing else will ever be like it."

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