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Sister

Sonic Youth

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iTunes Editors’ Notes

With 1986's EVOL, Sonic Youth established itself as one of the most distinctive and musically challenging bands of the emerging '80s indie rock scene. With new drummer Steve Shelley in tow, the group molded its epic drones to fit more conventional rock-song structures while still including the high-wire tension between its two dueling guitarists, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, who built walls of sound with innumerous alternately tuned guitars. 1987's Sister mastered this balance between Sonic Youth's experimental buzz and its pop interests with its strongest set of songs to date. "Schizophrenia" modulates over a murky drone to set the tone. "Catholic Block" follows, with a tight, punchy guitar riff that leads to a breathtaking melodic climb and a cathartic scream. "Pacific Coast Highway" mirrors the serpentine route for which it's named. A relatively straightforward cover of Crime's "Hot Wire My Heart" reflects the group's punk roots. "Tuff Gnarl" and "Kotton Krown" heap on the dissonant drones and unusual harmonics with tough rhythms holding the chaos in place.

Customer Reviews

An album of classics!

When I decided I wanted another Sonic Youth album (I bought Washing Machine first) I went to Daydream Nation. But I read a bunch of reviews, and numerous people swore that Sister was the better album! I decided to go by their words and bought Sister. I never regretted my decision! (of course, I did end up buying Daydream Nation later, but it's really not as good!)

Sister has mainly concise noise-rocker songs. It kicks off with the "one-two punch" of Thurston's "Schizophrenia" and "Catholic Block." Both of these songs are Sonic Youth classics and can be appreciated by any indie rock lover! All of the songs makes the listener just want to either A) smash something or B) play air guitar!

The greatest songs on this album are "Schizophrenia," "Catholic Block," "Beauty Lies in the Eye," "Stereo Sanctity," "Pipeline/Kill Time,"Tuff Gnarl," "Pacific Coast Highway," "Hot Wire My Heart," "Kotton Krown," "White Cross," and "Master-Dik." Oh wait. That's all of them.

For those that get sick of the extended 3-minute endings for most of the songs in Daydream Nation, or for those that like anything different from standard modern rock, or for those that can even appreciated good music, GET SISTER. I guarantee you will never regret it!

one of their best

This album is arguably Sonic Youths best, rivaled only by Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth at their best!

This is by far my favorite SY album. It is just awesome from the first song to the last!

Biography

Formed: 1981 in New York, NY

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

Sonic Youth were one of the most unlikely success stories of underground American rock in the '80s. Where contemporaries R.E.M. and Hüsker Dü were fairly conventional in terms of song structure and melody, Sonic Youth began their career by abandoning any pretense of traditional rock & roll conventions. Borrowing heavily from the free-form noise experimentalism of the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, and melding it with a performance art aesthetic borrowed from the New York post-punk avant-garde,...
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