Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation

THE REVIEW

The most instinctive thing I thought after listening to this album is that sometimes noise is the best music a man can listen to. Hypnotic from the start, it represents the embryo of everything that came after (grunge, post-punk, emo just to name a few). Born from punk, Sonic Youth created something that wasn't there, something that could already be vaguely imagined in some Beatles songs (Helter Skelter comes to mind) or in the wonderful disorder of '77 punk but still something new. It's impressive to think that a guitar at maximum distortion, 100% noise, can communicate in such a direct yet impressive way.

The album starts with Teenage Riot, a catchy track that nods more to punk, where Ranaldo's Reed-like voice narrates the fantastic story of a new revolution, of a new world created by young people, made of new ideals. Silver Rocket is almost hard-core, lasting nearly 4 minutes but flowing very fast, it is pure release, wild madness. The Sprawl seems more garage-rock, but Kim Gordon's chilly voice, deliberately twisted in the opening verses, reigns supreme over the sober yet almost elegant, light arrangement. Across the Breeze is still sung by Gordon, but it's hardcore again, you can feel the drama, the pain in her voice which screams pleadingly "I wanna know, I wanna know", the most beautiful lyrics, pure poetry. Eric's Trip is catchy again, song-like again; Ranaldo returns and the Velvet Underground's intrinsic sadness resurfaces, but the track is almost grunge. Total Trash is more cheerful than the previous series of tracks, perhaps resembling Teenage Riot a bit too much and isn't very original; the change of tempo that comes at the end of the track doesn't enliven the monotonous idea much, rather the noise-session that precedes it is appreciable, with drums sculpting almost jungle-like rhythms. In Hey Joni, despair returns, a very touching post-punk track with beautiful lyrics. Providence is an experimental insert but honestly, I didn't understand much of its meaning, almost 3 minutes with a piano playing a sad motif with persistent rain noise, probably created with guitars, and a voice that seems drawn from a film, appreciable but a little boring. Candle is beautiful with its initial arpeggio that always preludes a dark track, but then a more carefree leitmotif arrives. The next Rain King is perhaps the "noisiest" of all, Ranaldo with his dark but incisive voice instills unease and Gordon's perverse bass follows him in an interesting interplay. Kissability is beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful, Gordon's icy voice sings a somewhat childish but very cold melody, wonderful, almost like Nico, a bit sweet and a bit Teutonic. Trilogy is also wonderful, although it's the last track (actually three tracks enclosed in the same). In The Wonder, Ranaldo cries out with his guitar, Hypersation is truly frightening, terrifying, a horrible nightmare. The album concludes with Eliminator Jr., a high-speed hardcore punk where Kim assaults, moans, and screams with delight, the hardest track on the album that concludes it, perhaps a bit unexpectedly.

It was extremely difficult for me to review this album because it's unlike all others, it's something different. Daydream Nation is a crazy and terrifying scream, something that makes you uneasy but at the same time is wonderful, it's like a drug. A true milestone, I've listened to it countless times and yet every time feels like the first.