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By David Browne
David Browne
David Browne
David Browne is EW's music critic and author of ''Dream Brother: The Lives & Music of Jeff & Tim Buckley'' (HarperCollins)

''Nirvana has validated all of us jerks,'' laughs Thurston Moore, singer and guitarist of Sonic Youth. The kingpins of New York's downtown rock scene hardly need any validation, though. On '80s albums like Daydream Nation and Sister, Sonic Youth made music (hurricanes of fuzzy guitar squalor) and copped an attitude (bratty and deadpan-hip) that hacked out a path through today's alternative rock jungle. For its efforts, the band has been rewarded with a contract with Geffen's DGC label (which released its 1990 album, Goo) and with opening for Neil Young on his 1991 tour. ''He kind of exploited us to f -- - with his audience,'' Moore recalls, ''but he was a down-to-earth dude.'' It's easy to see how Sonic Youth could mess with an audience's mind: Using screwdrivers and other tools, the group achieves maximum feedback quotient yet shapes the sonic whirlwind and hooky melodies into a beautiful noise, much the way Young does whenever he picks up his electric guitar. Young should also appreciate Sonic Youth's new album, Dirty, due in stores July 21, which tackles topics like racism, the murder of a close friend and, in a song called ''Swimsuit Issue,'' sexual harassment in the workplace. ''Well, it's an election year,'' says bassist-singer Kim Gordon, who is married to Moore. ''Yeah-we have a right to be angry,'' adds Moore (at far left in photo). The band-which also includes guitarist Lee Ranaldo (third from left) and drummer Steve Shelley-champions other causes as well, namely underground rock. It was Sonic Youth who brought Nirvana to the attention of DGC, which signed the Seattle trio, and Moore runs his own independent label, Ecstatic Peace, which specializes in records by obscure young bands like New York's Cell. Moore and Shelley can also be heard this summer on a raw, feisty album by the Dim Stars (Caroline Records), featuring a rare recorded performance by the legendary Richard Hell. Sonic Youth itself will tour nationally after the release of Dirty. ''Then we'll break up,'' Moore jokes, ''and I promise you we'll never come back for a reunion tour.'' Now there's a cool idea.


Posted Jun 26, 1994 | Published in issue #124-125 Jun 26, 1992 | Order Article Reprints