Sister (Sonic Youth album)
Sister | ||||
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Sear Sound, New York City | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 37:32 | |||
Label | SST | |||
Producer | Sonic Youth | |||
Sonic Youth chronology | ||||
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Sonic Youth studio album chronology | ||||
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Sister is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in June 1987 by SST Records. The album furthered the band's move away from the no wave genre towards more traditional song structures, while maintaining an aggressively experimental approach.
Like Sonic Youth's previous records, Sister was not successful at the time of its release. In the years following, however, it received much critical praise, with several publications naming it as one of the best albums of the 1980s.
Background and recording
Sonic Youth released their third album,
Sister is a loose concept album (like its follow-up Daydream Nation). Sister was in part inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. The original titles for the album were Kitty Magic, Humpy Pumpy and Sol-Fuc,[1] but it was named Sister as a reference to Dick's fraternal twin, who died shortly after her birth, and whose memory haunted Dick his entire life.[3] "Sister" was also the original title for "Schizophrenia", and Thurston Moore often introduced it as "Sister".[4]
Music and lyrics
According to Sputnikmusic's Adam Downer, Sister deviated from the frenetic sound of Sonic Youth's previous music in favor of a refined style of
The band used acoustic guitars on some songs on the album for "melodic" purposes, one of the first being "(I Got A) Catholic Block".[7] Another was "Beauty Lies in the Eye", which used three or four guitars.[8] "Pipeline/Kill Time", sung by Ranaldo, was written on April 5, 1987, although several lyrics were not included in the final song.[9] "Tuff Gnarl"'s working titles were "Sea-Sik" and "Smart and Fast", but the band ultimately decided to call it "Tuff Gnarl", inspired by the line "He's running on a tuff gnarl in his head". Mike Watt covered the song on his album Ball-Hog or Tugboat? with Sonic Youth members Moore, Ranaldo and Steve Shelley performing it with him.[10] For the eighth song on the album, the band covered Crime's song "Hot Wire My Heart". "Kotton Krown" (or "Cotton Crown") was the first Gordon and Moore duet, although Moore usually sang it alone during live performances.[11] The last song on the album, "White Kross", was the oldest song on the album and was featured on an NME 7". On the band's 1987 European tour, they extended the song, adding five or six minutes of white noise at the end; this coda was later named "Broken Eye".[12]
Packaging
The artwork of the original
Very early promotional posters and pressings of the album did feature these photos, but later ones did not.A unique feature of the packaging is that the band is named as "The Sonic Youth" in the cover art.
Release and promotion
Sister was released in June 1987 by SST (USA) and
Videos were shot for "Beauty Lies in the Eye" and "Stereo Sanctity". The black-and-white "Stereo Sanctity" video, featuring clips of whirring factory machinery and brief live shots of the band, can only be seen on a rare 1980s SST video compilation titled Over 35 Videos Never Before Released. The band did not release an official single from the album.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [18] |
Los Angeles Times | [19] |
Pitchfork | 9.8/10[20] |
Q | [21] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [22] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10[23] |
The Village Voice | A[24] |
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau called Sister an album that was finally worthy of the band's aesthetic. Christgau said that while Sonic Youth had learned to temper their penchant for "insanity", their guitar sound was still "almost unique in its capacity to evoke rock and roll without implicating them in a history few youngish bands can bear up under these days".[24] In a negative review, Spin magazine said that the band failed to successfully mix their previous "nonsense" with "real rock tunage", as the more tempered musical approach lacked riffs and strong ideas.[25] The album was voted the 12th best album of the year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1987.[26] Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it fifth on his own list.[27] The album ranked No. 4 among "Albums of the Year" for 1987 in the annual NME critics' poll.[28]
In a retrospective review,
Track listing
All tracks are written by Sonic Youth (
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | " Master=Dik " | 5:10 |
Personnel
Sonic Youth
- Thurston Moore – guitar (tracks 1, 2 and 4–10), vocals, Moog synthesizer (5), bass guitar (3), production
- Kim Gordon – bass guitar (tracks 1, 2 and 4–10), vocals, production
- Lee Ranaldo – guitar, vocals, production
- Steve Shelley – drums, production
Technical
- Bill Titus – engineering
- Howie Weinberg – mastering
- Walter Sear – Moog programming
- Lucius Shepard – sleeve illustration
Release history
Region | Date | Distributing Label | Format |
---|---|---|---|
US, UK | June, 1987 | SST Records, Blast First | Vinyl, CD, Cassette |
Brazil | 1989 | Stileto | Vinyl |
US, Europe | 1994 | DGC, Geffen | CD, Cassette |
UK | 1996 | Mute | vinyl |
US | 2011 | ORG Music | Purple marble vinyl |
Notes
- ^ This track was named "Kotton Krown" on the CD/LP label on the original Blast First release and LP label on the original SST release, but was named "Cotton Crown" on the CD label on the original SST release, the subsequent reissues and in the booklets in all releases.
- ^ This track was named "White Kross" on the CD/LP label on the original Blast First release and LP label on the original SST release, but was named "White Cross" on the CD label on the original SST release, the subsequent reissues and in the booklets in all releases.
References
- ^ a b c "Sonic Youth Sister". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ Kot, Greg; Leland, John; Sheridan, David; Robbins, Ira; Pattyn, Jay. "trouserpress.com :: Sonic Youth". trouserpress.com. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-306-81603-1.
- ^ a b "Sonic Youth Schizophrenia". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ Downer, Adam (21 April 2007). "Review: Sonic Youth – Sister". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ "Sonic Youth Come Around". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ "Sonic Youth Catholic Block". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ "Sonic Youth Beauty Lies in the Eye". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ "Sonic Youth Pipeline/Kill Time". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ "Sonic Youth Tuff Gnarl". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ "Sonic Youth Kotton Krown". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ "Sonic Youth White Kross". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ a b "SISTER". SONICYOUTH.COM. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ "Sonic Youth Sister". sonicyouth.com. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
- ^ Deming, Mark. "Sister – Sonic Youth". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ Wolk, Douglas (October 2006). "Back Catalogue: Sonic Youth". Blender (52): 154–55.
- ^ Kot, Greg (27 September 1992). "The Evolution Of Sonic Youth". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
- ^ Hochman, Steve (5 July 1987). "Catholic, Cathartic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
- ^ Bengal, Rebecca (9 May 2019). "Sonic Youth: Sister". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "Sonic Youth: Sister". Q (118). London: 144. July 1996.
- ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1 September 1987). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ "Spin-Offs". Spin. New York: 31. August 1987. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ "The 1987 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. New York. 1 March 1988. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1 March 1988). "Pazz & Jop 1987: Dean's List". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ "Albums and Track of the year for 1987". NME. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ISBN 0-87930-627-0. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ "Best Albums of the 1980s | Music | Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ "Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1980s | Features | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. 20 November 2002. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ "Rocklist.net ...NME Greatest Albums of 60's 70's & 80's". rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ "Rocklist.net..Alternative Press." rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ Jackson, Josh (13 July 2016). "The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums". Paste. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
External links
- Sister at Discogs (list of releases)
- Sister[permanent dead link] (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)