It’s plausible to argue that the legacy & overall impact Sonic Youth has had within the world of alternative rock is perhaps greater than the actual music they have produced (actually, Thurston has admitted as much in interviews), which is not to take away from their discography at all, but only to highlight the fact that Sonic Youth (SY), for all intensive purposes, has been a litmus test for “coolness” as long as I can remember, which is at least 3 decades; hell, just considering the amount of bands who got their start thanks to an opening slot for SY, they have easily earned their eternal spot in the mountain of rock’s true heroes. Although in recent years they have mightily blazed through a headspinning amount of modern musical genres, they firmly grew out of NYC’s infamous ‘no wave’ scene (more written about than listened to, quite frankly), and this 7” finds them just barely beginning to toy with the idea of a melody; I love when Kim sings, or whispers, or growls---her power is hypnotic. I like the disconnected eulogy vibe here, mourning the loss of courage, and the many different things which she could be referring to with that seemingly oxymoronic phrase, “brave men run”. The playful & often atonal direction of Sonic Youth’s early musical experiments still fascinate me, that raw guttural edge slicing deep into your brain, severing the concept of prediction and leaving you awash in oceanic swells of feedback and fuzz.
