A product of New York's experimental "no-wave" scene, Sonic Youth first recorded under the auspices of avant garde guitarist Glenn Branca. Thurston Moore (b. 25 July 1958, Coral Gables, Florida, USA; guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (b. 3 February 1956, Glen Cove, New York, USA; guitar) performed together on Branca's Symphony No. 1. With the addition of Kim Gordon (b. 28 April 1953, Rochester, New York, USA; bass) the band debuted in its own right on Branca's Neutral label. Sonic Youth was recorded live at New York's Radio City Music Hall in December 1981 and featured original drummer Richard Edson. Three further collections, Confusion Is Sex, Sonic Death and a mini-album, Kill Yr Idols, completed the quartet's formative period, which was marked by their pulsating blend of discordant guitars, impassioned vocals and ferocious, compulsive drum patterns, courtesy of newcomer Jim Sclavunos, or his replacement, Bob Bert. Bad Moon Rising was the first Sonic Youth album to secure a widespread release in both the USA and Britain. This acclaimed set included the compulsive "I'm Insane" and the eerie "Death Valley '69", a collaboration with Lydia Lunch, which invoked the horror of the infamous Charles Manson murders. Bob Bert was then replaced by Steve Shelley (b. 23 June 1962, Midland, Michigan, USA), who has remained with the line-up ever since.
In 1986, Sonic Youth unleashed EVOL, which refined their ability to mix melody with menace, particularly on the outstanding "Shadow Of A Doubt". The album also introduced the band's tongue-in-cheek fascination with Madonna. "Expressway To Yr Skull" was given two alternative titles, "Madonna, Sean And Me" and "The Cruxifiction Of Sean Penn". Later in the year the band were joined by Mike Watt from fIREHOSE in Ciccone Youth, which resulted in a mutated version of "Into The Groove(y)' and 1989"s Ciccone Youth, which combined dance tracks with experimental sounds redolent of German groups Faust and Neu. Sonic Youth's career continued with the highly impressive Sister, followed in 1988 by Daydream Nation, a double set that allowed the band to expand themes when required. Once again, the result was momentous. The instrumentation was powerful, recalling the intensity of the Velvet Underground or Can, while the songs themselves were highly memorable.
In 1990, Sonic Youth left the independent circuit by signing with Geffen Records, going on to establish a reputation as godfathers to the alternative US rock scene with powerful albums such as Goo, Dirty and A Thousand Leaves. The independently released SYR mini-albums, meanwhile, document the band's restless experimentalism (they have continued to utilise the Syr label as an outlet for their non-mainstream output). Jim O'Rourke (b. 1969, USA) a collaborator since 1997, joined the band as a full-time member on 2002's Murray Street. The album took its name from the New York street where the band's studio, Echo Canyon, is located. The follow-up Sonic Nurse was released at the same time as a career-spanning video compilation. O'Rourke left the band in late 2005.
In keeping with Sonic Youth's legendary reputation, Thurston Moore was instrumental in the signing of Nirvana to the Geffen label, while Kim Gordon was similarly pivotal in the formation of Hole. Steve Shelley would also work closely with Geffen on a number of acts. Successive stints on Lollapalooza tours helped to make Sonic Youth the nation's best-known underground band, while the unit's members continued to collaborate on music and soundtrack projects to a degree that ensured the continuation of an already vast discography. Moore also runs his own underground record label, Ecstatic Peace!
