easycure

Cures and other various idiots?? ahahh.. ahahahahahah.. : ))) ..but excuse me: point 1) What do Velvet Underground and David Bowie have to do with New Wave? They are both artists who debuted at the end of the '60s (actually VU in '67), that is, contemporaneously, if not earlier than Led Zeppelin & co., totally out of time. They have nothing to do with New Wave at all. Point 2) RHCP do not mark the end of New Wave, because RHCP debuted in 1983, which is right in the middle of New Wave. Point 3) The '80s are not just New Wave, Punk is not New Wave (the Ramones and the Heartbreakers were in '75, but then it established itself as a standalone genre with totally different coordinates from New Wave), Punk is not just Sex Pistols, but in the '80s it also includes Husker Du, Minor Threat, Minutemen, that is, ENORMOUSLY more creative groups than the Sex Pistols, the '80s also include indie rock, R.E.M., Flaming Lips, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth themselves, who when they debuted were part of a movement called NO Wave, radically opposed to NEW Wave. Point 4) Grunge itself is primarily '80s stuff: Soundgarden formed in '84, Green River in '85, Melvins in '87, and Nirvana and Mudhoney debuted in '89.

Puglia, I'll be waiting for you on Saturday! ;)

Great first review, really! I'm also a blur lover (especially the recent ones with Graham Coxon), but I’m going in with a lot of bias towards these new English bands now...

Yes, kosmo, but in the '80s, Fugazi didn't exist yet, at least not as such. And then in Sonic Youth, I see a true "continuation" thread with the great currents of American counterculture. Fugazi is more of a case apart, if you know what I mean… at least they were when they first emerged; then they also became a reference point and were incredibly influential, but I believe their idea of "metaphysical" punk, which, while remaining visceral and direct music, becomes a sort of catharsis that transcends anarchy and transforms into a reconstitution of very strong ideals, could not have existed, especially from a musical point of view, without the insights of Sonic Youth. Then they created a style that totally transcends, perhaps even surpasses, the untouchable Fugazi!

very precise and very beautiful. anyway, you've given me a crazy urge to download it, even though it might not be their best album...

I disagree, even without having heard it, that this is the peak of SY. It's difficult, but very difficult for it to surpass or even match Daydream Nation. Anyway, Antonino, you're making my computer crash :D... I'm always there downloading Sonic albums that I'm missing and that you're reviewing; your enthusiasm is too much to resist. By the way, I think you've also improved in writing reviews!

Love songs?? Can songs be written on a hundred thousand different topics, but they all have to be either about love or politics?? It's not a matter of "rejecting" success; it's about how one approaches success. There are people who have died, like various Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, Curtis, Cobain; there are those who have more or less brushed it off, not taking it and themselves too seriously, like The Cure, for example, who with each album changed their skin, disregarding trends and labels, and indeed, they weren't as famous in '96 as they were in '89, or like Radiohead. And then there are those who really capitalize on their success: it's clear they enjoy making money. Maybe they’re a bit beholden to it. The fact is, they’ve become icons, characters in the world of entertainment that almost transcend music. And those are bands like U2, or people like Michael Jackson; we’re talking about the same carnival phenomena. People who, in short, make catchy tunes they know will please the audience, with silly lyrics but with lines that stick in your mind, with catchy riffs and anthemic choruses, with the artistic depth of Take That, but they have to please 15 million people and everything else fades into the background... just look at "Vertigo," you know...

5018!! : )

Sonic Youth are not important "in their genre." They have been among the most influential bands in the history of music. Without Sonic Youth, there would be no lo-fi, no Pavement and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion; no Post Rock, Slint, Tortoise, Mogwai; no Fugazi, and thus no Post-Hardcore, Emo, and dozens of other Punk and indie subgenres from the '90s. Sonic Youth embody the psychedelia of the post-modern, representing the utmost variety of genres within the maximum homogeneity of arrangement; they are punk, pop, psychedelia, hard rock, all blended into the acid, scornful, metallic sound of distorted guitars played with dissonant chords. And not only that: they are the true emblem and point of reference for the American counterculture from the '80s onward, with those references in the lyrics to the Beat Generation, to William Gibson's Cyber, to Andy Warhol, especially his films. Literally, SACRED MONSTERS.

Portnoy should take lessons from Vinnie Paul, so he can learn a bit about how to play the drums if you want to do metal.