sonic youth

Kim Gordon’s ‘The Collective’ Is an Addictive Mix of Sounds

Kim Gordon’s ‘The Collective’ Is an Addictive Mix of Sounds

Who had Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon making a collection of trunk-rattling near hip-hop and industrial noise on their 2024 bingo card?

‘Walls Have Ears’ Captures Sonic Youth’s Abrasive Adolescence

‘Walls Have Ears’ Captures Sonic Youth’s Abrasive Adolescence

Drawn from recordings of UK shows in 1985, Walls Have Ears is a wild, unvarnished listen that gets back to the difficult, defiant essence of Sonic Youth.

Reconsidering Sonic Youth’s ‘Confusion Is Sex’ at 40 Years Old

Reconsidering Sonic Youth’s ‘Confusion Is Sex’ at 40 Years Old

Sonic Youth’s Confusion Is Sex is impressively raw and uncompromising, thrilling and terrifying as a walk through the Lower East Side in the early 1980s.

‘In/Out/In’ Makes a Taut Case for Sonic Youth’s Continued Relevance

‘In/Out/In’ Makes a Taut Case for Sonic Youth’s Continued Relevance

In/Out/In, a collection of almost entirely instrumental tracks recorded during Sonic Youth’s final decade, would be a crucial record if it was the only thing they ever recorded.

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the ’90s: 60 – 41

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the ’90s: 60 – 41

The third part of our examination of the 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the ’90s, including Sonic Youth, Primal Scream, Garbage, Pixies and more.

20 Music Videos of the ’80s That Have Aged Well

20 Music Videos of the ’80s That Have Aged Well

In this second installment of the retrospective of music videos from the 1980s, we focus on 20 promos that have, remarkably, stood the test of time.

The Year Alternative Rock Went Massive and Defined a Decade

The Year Alternative Rock Went Massive and Defined a Decade

Musically 1991 will forever be remembered as the year alternative rock conquered the masses. We explore how alternative became the dominant form of rock music in the 1990s.

The Most Memorable Albums of 1999 (Part 5)

The Most Memorable Albums of 1999 (Part 5)

Part five of the Most Memorable Albums of 1999 is highlighted by the political rock of Rage Against the Machine and Joe Strummer, as well as major league hip-hop from Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, Q-Tip, and Jay-Z.

Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo Share Lockdown, Shelter in Place, Protest Gems

Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo Share Lockdown, Shelter in Place, Protest Gems

One of the pleasures of human culture is that, as a combined stream of millions of individuals' efforts in this current moment, and millions of people's inputs across time stretching back thousands of years, no single person will ever have seen or heard it all.

New Brain Trajectory: An Interview With Lee Ranaldo and Raül Refree

New Brain Trajectory: An Interview With Lee Ranaldo and Raül Refree

Two guitarists, Lee Ranaldo and Raül Refree make an album largely absent of guitar playing and enter into a bold new phase of their careers. "We want to take this wherever we can and be free of genre restraints," says Lee Ranaldo.

Lee Ranaldo and Raül Refree Create an Eerily Experimental Sound with ‘Names of North End Women’

Lee Ranaldo and Raül Refree Create an Eerily Experimental Sound with ‘Names of North End Women’

The fruitful collaboration between these two unique musicians continues on an album that is dark but surprisingly melodic.

12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums

12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums

PopMatters' '80s alt-rock primer spotlights the essential alternative rock albums from the broad genre's rich and diverse early years.