Sonic Youth Information

Highly influential in the underground rock music scene, Sonic Youth is an artistic collective as much as a traditional rock/pop band. They are known for using a variety of sound experiments including unorthodox guitar tunings such as applying screwdrivers or other preparations to guitars to alter the instruments' timbre. Sonic Youth gradually incorporated more conventional elements of pop music into their work, while still maintaining an experimental quality. The double LP Daydream Nation (1988) earned SY unanimous crossover critical acclaim.

Sonic Youth played a particularly pivotal role in the proliferation of grunge. Their 1991 tour with the then-unknown Nirvana was captured in the film 1991: The Year Punk Broke. Originally formed in 1981, current Sonic Youth members include Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon, and Steve Shelley.

Members of the band diversified their talents. Kim Gordon collaborated in Free Kitten, and started an MTV-adored clothing label X-Girl, based in Los Angeles. Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore have played with many experimental/noise musicians, including William Hooker, Nels Cline, Tom Surgal, Alan Licht, Don Dietrich, Christian Marclay and Mission of Burma, among others. Steve Shelley runs the Smells Like Records record label, as well as playing in backing bands for Chan Marshall (Cat Power) and Two Dollar Guitar. Members of the band have released books of poetry and prose.

SY has released 21 albums. The most recent, Rather Ripped, was released in June 2006. According to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, "Sonic Youth are renowned for a glorious form of noise-based chaos".

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