New York bands the Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth share more than a zip code. Both include three men and one woman, both play rambling feedback dirges. And both have received the kiss-of-death sobriquet ''seminal,'' while moving negligible units. But that's not really why Sonic Youth are the VU of the '90s; the reissue of four Sonic Youth albums (see review on page 64) reveals more ominous similarities. -Dave Merline, Rob Michaels, and Mike Rubin THE VELVET UNDERGROUND *Downtown art band who made scene with hip director Andy Warhol and stringy- haired socialite hanger-on Nico SONIC YOUTH *Downtown art band who made scene with hip director Spike Jonze and stringy- haired socialite hanger-on Sofia Coppola
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND *Record called White Light/White Heat SONIC YOUTH *Record called The Whitey Album
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND *Song on second album, ''Sister Ray'' SONIC YOUTH *Song on second album, ''Brother James''
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND *Recorded live album 1969, year of Manson killings SONIC YOUTH ) *Recorded song, ''Death Valley '69,'' mythologizing Manson killings
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND *Starred in poorly executed documentary film The Velvet Underground and Nico SONIC YOUTH *Starred in poorly executed documentary film 1991: The Year Punk Broke
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND *Honored idol with tribute song, ''European Son'' (for Delmore Schwartz) SONIC YOUTH *Honored idol with tribute song, ''Tunic (Song for Karen (Carpenter))''
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND *Bassist John Cale produced first Stooges album, launching punk craze SONIC YOUTH *Bassist Kim Gordon produced first Hole album, launching Courtney Love craze
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND *Recorded song ''Venus in Furs'' about sadomasochism SONIC YOUTH *Opened clothing boutique, X-Girl, that sells painfully tight outerwear
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.