Sonic Youth

Loosed on the world in 1988, Daydream Nation made alt-rock a life force. Over two vinyl
discs containing just fourteen titles, it fused Sonic Youth's displaced guitar tunings with
tunes as hummable as the Beatles' or the Ramones' – a standard they've matched ever
since, but never again with quite so much anthemic consistency. The album's evident
mastery won them a major-label deal they're still working even though their thr... More >

At a historical juncture we can only hope isn't a fissure, a time when no sentient rock and roller could mistake extremism in the defense of liberty for a vice, the anarchic doomshows of Our Antiheroes' static youth look moderately prophetic and sound better than they used to. But they don't sound anywhere near as good as the happy-go-lucky careerism and four-on-the-floor maturity Our Heroes are indulging now. Whatever exactly their lyrics are saying--not that I can't make them out, just that catch-phrases like "You've got it" and "Just say yes" and "It's total trash" and "You're so soft you make me hard" are all I need to know--their discordant never-let-up is a philosophical triumph. They're not peering into the fissure, they're barreling down the turnpike like the fissure ain't there. And maybe they're right--they were the first time. (Grade - A)