This is the 1987 (re)release that drew a demarcation between the old SY that broke serious NYC No Wave/Noise ground (along with early Swans, Teenaged Jesus, James Chance, Live Skull) and the later Sonic Youth made a household word by their next release: Daydream Nation, which arguably invented “indie rock/noise pop”. This album clings to the early elements found in Evol, Bad Moon Rising, but most certainly foreshadows Daydream and all of “Indie Rock” that we know of today, where SY began to develop and follow a winning recipe they’ve followed to this day. Historically vital, but also just really great dissonant rock and roll, this album deserves a place in the annals of rock history.

1)* (4:38) bouncy hit feel, Indie Rock started right here, this second 2) (3:25) FCC (“fuck”) noisier, driving, harkening back but moving forward, Noise Pop started right here 3) (2:18) Kim Gordon doing that moan/whine voiceover over a slow psyche guitar fest, Thalia Zedek/Live Skull comes to mind 4) (3:48) driving, with dissonant signature Glen Branca orchestra duel guitar attack 5)* (4:33) urgent and poetic with a cool breakdown 2/3rd way through devolves into noise fest 6) FCC (“fuck”) 7)* (4:16) Kim Gordon again singing about insanity – urgent craziness quickly gives way to pretty strumminess, but it returns of course 8) (3:22) cover of Crime song, garage punky, atypical feel, even less than their cover of I Wanna Be Your Dog 9)* (5:06) quintessential SY slow ballad, duel male/fem vocals, noise pop 10) (2:49) upbeat rockin feel 11) FCCs –PLEASE NOTE this song did not appear on the original album nor this release but was part of an SST CD release 2003, the disc of which we used here to save space in the library