5. “Bull In The Heather” – Sonic Youth: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

5. “Bull In The Heather” – Sonic Youth

(From the album Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star)

1994

Sonic Youth’s Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star moves in an interesting artistic direction for the band. On the one hand, the album is more pop-oriented and melodic than their previous work and therefore, at least in one sense, is more accessible. Make no mistake, the songs on Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star are still full of strange detours and unusual choices, but for the most part the album lacks the ear-shredding distortion and long dissonant passages that often made their earlier records less accessible. On the other hand though, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star also moves the band away from the prevailing alt rock sound of the time. The album is sonically still definitely the work of Sonic Youth, but it also doesn’t widely feature the big riffs and sonic intensity that was dominating alternative rock at the time (and that Sonic Youth themselves played a key role in inspiring). Much of Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star rocks less directly and is more subtle than anything the band had done before. Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star is an album that is accessible, but not immediate, and therefore takes a few listens before its hidden hooks and little surprises grab the listener. In other words, it is an album that would appeal to their large and devoted fan base, but probably (purposefully) wouldn’t expand that fan base much with the new legions who had found Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, and Stone Temple Pilots over the previous few years. The album’s sole single “Bull In The Heather” illustrates the sound of the album well. “Bull In The Heather” is a crafty and catchy song that feels like it is slowly building up to an angsty climax; only that climax never comes. Kim Gordon’s vocals build up in tension and angst, but when the moment comes for the song to follow the loud-soft-loud 90’s formula and explode into a chorus made for moshing “Bull In The Heather” instead pulls back and leaves that tension largely unresolved. It is a songwriting choice that makes for a more interesting song that moves in unexpected directions, but not for a crossover hit. That said, “Bull In The Heather” was still hook-oriented enough (and Sonic Youth had enough momentum built up from the success of Dirty) that the song hit #52 in the UK and #13 on the US alternative rock chart. This decision to turn their sound inward rather than allowing it to explode out in cathartic blasts of noise like Sonic Youth once would have done can be heard all across Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. Opening track “Winner’s Blues” is a restless, acoustic number, while “Self-Obsessed and Sexxee” rides its driving groove without ever losing control. Even when the band threatens to lose control, like on “Androgynous Mind” or “Tokyo Eye”, they pull back from total chaos at the last second. In the end, these choices make Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star an incredible listen, but not one designed for mainstream, crossover success even if it seems more accessible at first.

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4. “100%” – Sonic Youth: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

4. “100%” – Sonic Youth

(From the album Dirty)

1992

Released in the wake of Nirvana’s success changing what was possible for alternative rock bands gaining access to the mainstream, Sonic Youth’s seventh album Dirty is also possibly their most accessible. Still miles away from a mainstream sell-out Dirty takes Sonic Youth’s distinctive sound and focuses it into songs that are shorter and more structured than much of what they had done before. Some longtime fans felt that the band had changed for mainstream success but the songs on Dirty are not notably different in sound and style from earlier Sonic Youth albums, they are just tighter and shorter. In a sense, the music world had begun to catch up to what Sonic Youth had always been doing more than that the band had adapted their sound. Whatever the reason, Dirty was the band’s most commercially successful album to date, carried by three successful singles. The first of these was the noise punk of “100%” which became Sonic Youth’s most successful song when it hit #4 on the US modern rock chart and #28 in the UK. The song was about the murder of their friend Joe Cole, who had been a roadie for Black Flag and the Rollins Band. “100%” also featured a cool video shot largely by young director Spike Jonze that featured skateboarder (and later actor) Jason Lee. The video helped make the song a success while also showing Jonze to be a rising talent. While a big success in alternative rock circles “100%” was not the crossover hit that Geffen had thought it would be. A second single “Youth Against Fascism”, featuring Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, was released and was a minor alt-radio success. The third single “Sugar Kane” did better but still wasn’t the crossover success Geffen hoped for. Still, Dirty had been a hit record and Sonic Youth had become a well-established band in the now-dominant alternative rock scene; a scene that had largely been inspired by Sonic Youth. 

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3. “Kool Thing” – Sonic Youth: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

3. “Kool Thing” – Sonic Youth

(From the album Goo)

1990

Daydream Nation moved Sonic Youth into the vanguard of American alternative music and they soon signed a major label deal with Geffen Records. Those who feared a move to the majors might tame Sonic Youth had nothing to worry about as their major label debut Goo follows the pattern of both Sister and Daydream Nation by melding subtle doses of melody with large amounts of noise, strange tunings, and other experimentation. The lead single “Kool Thing” finds the band working a punk meets noise rock vein that is propulsive and harsh. The vocals are by Kim Gordon and reference an interview she gave to rapper LL Cool J a year earlier. In the interview with LL Cool J Gordon tells him how his Radio album sparked her interest in rap, but over the course of the interview, she became disenchanted with LL Cool J due to some of his views on women and his uninformed and dismissive attitude toward punk rock. Gordon channeled this frustration into the song which makes several references to the rapper without ever quite calling him out by name (although the title comes close). “Kool Thing” also has a spoken word section by rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy to further its rap-related theme. “Kool Thing” became an alternative rock hit, reaching #7 on the US modern rock chart (and #96 on the US Top 100) and hitting #81 on the UK Top 10. Both chart positions were Sonic Youth’s best showing to date. That success made Goo an unexpected success for Geffen when it sold more than 200,000 copies and was one of the first alternative rock records to start to chip away at the barrier separating it from the mainstream.

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2. “Teen Age Riot” – Sonic Youth: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

2. “Teen Age Riot” – Sonic Youth

(From the album Daydream Nation)

1988

1987 saw Sonic Youth release Sister, the follow-up to EVOL. Sister earned the critical respect, and to a lesser extent the sales, that Sonic Youth had never previously been given. Sister also found the band further merging their noise rock origins and sense of sonic experimentation with a stronger sense of melody and this, to a large degree, set the template for Sonic Youth moving forward (although they would nearly always place following their own musical muse over commercial inclinations). With a firm line-up of Moore, Gordon, Lee, and Shelley in place and their own unique sound and style finally achieved Sonic Youth entered Greene St. Recording Studio in Manhattan and began work on their fifth record, the classic double album Daydream Nation. Daydream Nation was critically acclaimed and finally earned the band a degree of commercial success as the album cracked the UK Top 100 when it hit #99. Furthermore, the fuzzy and propulsive single “Teen Age Riot” earned solid airplay on alternative rock radio stations and hit #20 on the new Billboard Modern Rock chart, giving the band their first “hit” and vastly expanding their fan base. Time has only increased the legacy of Daydream Nation which is now considered one of the key albums of the 1980’s and a massive influence on 90’s alternative rock. Indeed, Daydream Nation was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2005.

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1. “Starpower” – Sonic Youth: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

1. “Starpower” – Sonic Youth

(From the album Evol)

1986 

The origins of Sonic Youth begin when guitarist Thurston Moore moved to New York City. Moore soon found himself playing occasionally with the band CKM. One of the members of CKM was bassist Kim Gordon. Moore and Gordon became friends and before long the pair had formed the core of the band that would ultimately become Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth rounded out their original line-up by adding guitarist Lee Ranaldo (whom the band met in 1981 at New York’s Noise Fest) and drummer Richard Edson. Sonic Youth soon went to the studio to record their self-titled debut EP, which boasted a fairly traditional post-punk sound more reminiscent of Joy Division, Wire, or The Cure than their own later work. The Sonic Youth EP did not earn the band much critical or commercial notice and Richard Edson left to pursue an acting career, ultimately becoming a successful character actor with parts in films like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Howard The Duck, Platoon, Do The Right Thing, and many more. Several people would man the drumkit over the next little while with Jim Sclavunos playing on their debut record Confusion Is Sex, a noisy, harder affair than their debut EP, and Bob Bert joining the band for its follow-up EP Kill Yr Idols. Sonic Youth continued to tour and build up a small but dedicated fan base in the rock and roll underground while helping to pioneer the noise rock subgenre. 1985 was a momentous year for Sonic Youth as Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon got married and the band released their second full-lengthed album Bad Moon Rising which earned Sonic Youth some of its first critical praise and sales, mostly in the UK. Following the tour supporting Bad Moon Rising drummer Bob Bert left the group and was replaced by Steve Shelley. Sonic Youth also signed a new record deal with California-based indie label SST, making Sonic Youth the first New York band to sign with the influential indie label. Early 1986 saw Sonic Youth enter the studio again to record their third studio album EVOL. EVOL continued to expand Sonic Youth’s sound by weaving more melody into their noise rock and experimentation. This subtle use of melody can be heard on EVOL’s only single “Starpower”. “Starpower” is distorted and noisy and eventually devolves into an experimental jam over its middle section before regaining its structure, but underneath all of that, the song has an undeniable sense of melody. “Starpower” wasn’t a hit, but its sonic impact on groups like Pixies, Nirvana, and Smashing Pumpkins is undeniable, making Sonic Youth one of the key influences on the sound of 90’s alternative rock.

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7. “Highway 101” – Social Distortion: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

7. “Highway 101” – Social Distortion

(From the album Sex, Love & Rock ‘N Roll)

2004 

Following 1998’s Live At The Roxy Social Distortion went on another lengthy hiatus and leader Mike Ness decided to try his hand at a solo career releasing Cheating At Solitaire, an album consisting largely of Ness originals written in the style of his heroes (and featuring many guests including Bruce Springsteen and Brian Setzer), in April of 1999. Ness followed it up later that same year with Under The Influences, an album of country, folk, and rock covers. Both records are in a similar vein to much of Ness’ work with Social Distortion but the songs are presented in a more stripped-back setting. The new millennium brought tragedy to the band when Social Distortion’s guitarist and original member Dennis Danell died of a brain aneurysm. By 2003 Mike Ness had written songs for a new Social Distortion record and brought in new guitarist Johnny Wickersham, formerly of L.A. punk peers Youth Brigade, and new drummer Carlos Quintana to play with longtime bassist John Maurer and himself. This new line-up of Social Distortion would record Sex, Love & Rock ‘N Roll, which would be released in 2004. The sound of Sex, Love & Rock ‘N Roll would fall closer to the cowpunk sound of the band’s classic era albums but still have some of the mainstream rock polish and classic rock influences found on White Light, White Heat, White Trash, ultimately landing somewhere between the two sounds and styles. The biggest change on Sex, Love & Rock ‘N Roll was probably the more positive tone that many of the songs had. While the album could not exactly be called upbeat, there was a more hopeful mood in many of the songs. Ness himself said that on this album there is “…certainly more hope and light than on White Light, White Heat, White Trash. You can’t forever tell yourself and others that life’s all bad. Apart from other things, punk rock also is about fun and loud guitars. Before doing the last album I went through a really hard time, and even if not all is great in my life, I’m much better now than at that time.” That more uplifting and carefree spirit can be felt on many of the songs on the record including the breezy “Highway 101”. A song about driving down California’s famous highway looking for fun and reliving memories, “Highway 101” sounds like classic Social Distortion even while feeling warm and nostalgic. It is exactly the kind of song Social Distortion should be making more than two decades into their career and it proves that they can still find magic within the confines of their sound. “Highway 101” isn’t the only good song here either. Sex, Love & Rock ‘N Roll opens with a really strong four-song run of “Reach For The Sky” (which earned a little airplay), “Highway 101”, “Don’t Take Me For Granted” and “Footprints On My Ceiling”. The album dips a little from there but still has a few other standout tracks like “Winners & Losers”, which feels like an outtake from Social Distortion or Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell, and the excellent closer “Angel’s Wings”. Changes would continue for Social Distortion though as bassist John Maurer, who had been with the band since the second album, chose to leave following the recording of Sex, Love & Rock ‘N Roll. Social Distortion would tour in support of Sex, Love & Rock ‘N Roll and then continue to tour off and on over the rest of the 2000’s although the line-up would continue to change regularly around Ness. 2011 saw Social Distortion release the album Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes which spun off the single “Machine Gun Blues”.

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6. “I Was Wrong” – Social Distortion: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

6. “I Was Wrong” – Social Distortion

(From the album White Light, White Heat, White Trash)

1996 

Social Distortion took a long break following the release of Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell and drummer Christopher Reece decided to leave the group. By the time the band decided to record their next album the alternative rock and punk revolution of the early 1990’s was waning and nu-metal and electronica were on the rise. Maybe Mike Ness and company wanted to toughen up their sound to compete for space on the airwaves against the likes of Korn and Load era Metallica or maybe, after three very good albums of their trademark punk meets outlaw country sound, they just wanted to do something a little bit different. Whatever the reason there is a shift in Social Distortion’s sound for their fifth album White Light, White Heat, White Trash. White Light, White Heat, White Trash is a harder, more metallic, more produced album than anything Social Distortion had released before. While it is still possible to hear the band’s punk, country, blues, and rockabilly influences at the heart of some of these songs, they are played and produced to sound like hard rock. While it is hard not to miss the cowpunk of their previous albums, White Light, White Heat, White Trash still has some clear highlights. These include the hard, midtempo rockers “Crown Of Thorns”, “Untitled” and “Down Here (With The Rest Of Us)”, the punkish “Don’t Drag Me Down” and the almost pop-oriented rock of “When The Angels Sing” which Ness wrote in response to the passing of his grandmother. However, the best moment on White Light, White Heat, White Trash is probably the lead single “I Was Wrong” which takes the fury of their punk past and slows it down into something that is pitched between punk and classic hard rock. “I Was Wrong” was another hit for the band as well, going to #4 on Billboard’s modern rock chart and #12 on the mainstream rock chart. Following White Light, White Heat, White Trash Social Distortion parted ways with Epic Records and signed with Time Bomb Records, releasing the live album Live At The Roxy in 2008. 

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5. “Bad Luck” – Social Distortion: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

5. “Bad Luck” – Social Distortion

(From the album Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell)

1992

Following the success of their self-titled third album Social Distortion didn’t wait long to get back into the studio and work on its follow-up record. Indeed, Social Distortion’s fourth album Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell would be released in February of 1992. Building off the momentum provided by their own previous record and the fact that alternative and punk music had crossed over into the mainstream due to the success of Nirvana, Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell would prove to be Social Distortion’s most successful album, peaking at #72 on the US album chart while its lead single “Bad Luck” became their most successful song yet when it went to #2 on the alternative music Modern Rock Tracks chart. Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell closely followed the pattern of their previous record and blends punk, rockabilly, country, and blues into Social Distortion’s now distinct sound. “Bad Luck” borrows more from punk and pushes the tempo harder than the big hits from the previous record and in the process became one of the band’s signature songs. Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell may be similar in tone to Social Distortion, but where that album was rooted in its slower, more country-oriented songs Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell is grounded more by its faster, harder songs. Besides the lead single “Bad Luck” other standout tracks include the almost straightforward punk of “Cold Feelings”, the punk/rockabilly of the second single “When She Begins”, and the hard-charging loser anthem “Born To Lose”. There are also some strong, slower, and more country-oriented moments on Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell as well. The best of these is probably “99 To Life”, a song that Johnny Cash probably wished he had written (and is shocking that he never covered it during his Rick Rubin produced American Recordings era). The punked-up cover version of Jimmy Work’s country classic “Making Believe” is also good, as is Ness’ own twangy punk ballad “This Time Darlin’”. Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell feels like the third act in a trilogy of classic Social Distortion albums running from Prison Bound through Social Distortion and ending with Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell that explore similar lyrical and musical themes while proving Social Distortion to be a unique and visionary band. Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell would end the classic run of the band though as drummer Christopher Reece would leave the band following this album and his departure would start a revolving door of members coming and going around leader Mike Ness for the rest of the band’s career. Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell would prove to be the band’s commercial, and possibly creative, high point, and yet is still an underrated and often overlooked album.

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4. “Ring Of Fire” – Social Distortion: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

4. “Ring Of Fire” – Social Distortion

(From the album Social Distortion)

1990

Social Distortion had found some radio and MTV success with their self-titled third album. Much of that success was due to Social Distortion having hits with “Ball & Chain” and “Story Of My Life”, both of which leaned into the band’s love for traditional and outlaw country music. However, Social Distortion is a punk band and not everything on Social Distortion draws so heavily on country influences; there are still several great punk or punk-adjacent songs on Social Distortion. The opening track “So Far Away” is a propulsive, punk-fueled rocker, and “Let It Be Me” and “She’s A Knockout” marry a punk musical attack with a touch of rockabilly. That punk meets rockabilly vibe is pushed harder on “Sick Boys”, which became a theme song of sorts for the band. Elsewhere on Social Distortion, a punk meets the blues swagger permeates the foot-stomping “It Coulda Been Me” and the swampy closer “Drug Train”. However, the heart of the record, and quite possibly the heart of the entire Social Distortion sound and ethos, is their fiery, punk cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire”. “Ring Of Fire” was another hit for the band and Social Distortion’s version perfectly showcases that punk rock and outlaw country music are simply two sides of the same coin. The rhythm section speeds up and stiffens the country backbeat until it rocks hard rather than lopes along, while Dennis Danell and Mike Ness use their guitar blasts to replace the mariachi horns in Cash’s version. In the end, Social Distortion reworks “Ring Of Fire” into a punk rock classic that perhaps equals the earlier Johnny Cash version of the song. At the very least it is an amazing cover that reimagines and reframes a classic song without stripping it of its emotional power, and maybe even adds a little to it. 

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3. “Ball & Chain” – Social Distortion: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

3. “Ball & Chain” – Social Distortion

(From the album Social Distortion)

1990

Following the release of Prison Bound Social Distortion signed a record deal with major label Epic Records. Epic put both money and promotion behind the band’s next album Social Distortion which found Ness moving Social Distortion’s music even further in a roots rock-oriented direction. Indeed, Social Distortion scored an alternative radio hit with the country-goes-punk “Ball & Chain”. The perfect song for Ness’ world-weary and downtrodden voice, “Ball & Chain” tells the tale of a man with good intentions who can’t seem to outrun his own demons and catch a break in life. The song rides along on the fat bass groove provided by bassist John Maurer (who had joined the band in 1984 following Mommy’s Little Monster) and deservedly found some success on radio and MTV. “Ball & Chain” leans toward the more country-rooted side of Social Distortion’s music and the band followed that up with “Story Of My Life” which was another alt-radio and MTV success, proving that Epic’s decision to back an L.A. punk band with a history of substance abuse and legal issues was justified. Indeed, Social Distortion is a strong record from start to finish for anyone who is a fan of punk, outlaw country, rockabilly, or bluesy classic rock, and was Social Distortion’s first record to hit the Billboard Top 200 albums chart when it peaked at #128.

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