Sonic Youth

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New York City, New York, United States (1981 – present)

Sonic Youth is an influential band which formed in New York City, New York, United States in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore (vocals, guitar), Kim Gordon (vocals, bass, guitar), Lee Ranaldo (vocals and guitar), Steve Shelley (drums) and Mark Ibold (bass).

In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City. Part of the first wave of American noise rock groups, the band carried out their interpretation of the hardcore punk ethos throughout the evolving American underground that focused more on the DIY ethic of the genre rather than its specific sound. As a result, Sonic Youth was pivotal in the rise of the alternative rock movement.

Sonic Youth have expressed a wide variety of influences, ranging from the influential protopunk musician Patti Smith to composer John Cage. The band has been praised for having “redefined what rock guitar could do”, using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings, and preparing guitars with objects like drumsticks and screwdrivers to alter the instruments’ timbre.

Formation and early history: 1977-1981

Sonic Youth’s history began when guitarist Thurston Moore moved to New York City in early 1976. Interested in punk, Moore joined The Coachmen, a guitar-based quartet, after arriving in the city. Lee Ranaldo, an art student at Binghamton University, became a fan of the Coachmen, and he and Moore were soon friends. Ranaldo was a member of Glenn Branca’s electric guitar ensemble, touring throughout the United States and Europe. After the breakup of the Coachmen, Moore began jamming with Stanton Miranda, whose band, ckm, featured local artist Kim Gordon.
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Popular tags: alternative, experimental, post-punk, indie, rock  See more

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  • husarzX

    sonic happens

    Wednesday evening

  • sunheadbowed

    "grunge" as a music genre did not even exist, so Sonic Youth -- as part of the wave of alternative/hardcore bands whom the majors took a chance on -- have as much right to be labelled it as any other. Bands started trying to be "grunge", post-Nirvana, but you get that sort of sheep mentality with all media-generated buzzword music labels. Things like dubstep and witch house are current examples.

    Wednesday evening

  • LuizRigotto

    also, nirvana and sy were great friends, so that kind of makes them related to the movement

    Wednesday evening

  • LuizRigotto

    Goo is sonic youth's incursion to grunge, although the band as a whole it's not grunge per se

    Wednesday evening

  • littlealvagirl

    The diamond sea.

    Wednesday afternoon

  • Scentlesss

    i don't talk about music, genres or musical taste, it make me feel miserable

    Wednesday afternoon

  • daydream_set

    a teenage girl got a band's genre wrong? somebody call Ripley's!

    Wednesday morning

  • zhelnerovich

    You can also see Sonic Youth pictures in "Grunge" book by Thurston Moore. I don't get it.

    Tuesday morning

  • crackityjones92

    I just met a teenage girl who told me that Sonic Youth were a Grunge band O____O

    Tuesday morning

  • andukaru

    sonic youth

    Monday afternoon

  • VanitaFair

    Hey hey where you going in such a hurry? Take it easy girl and tell me a story Move on over here, slow it down Tell me why you're being run out of town I don't give a fuck Why everybody thinks you should shut up Everybody's freaked cuz everybody knows That you're the queen of NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

    Monday morning

  • mariahlan

    Yonic South

    Sunday evening

  • nabeshin

    whateverornever, Verve гавно, а Соники круты

    Sunday evening

  • alexjohanssen

    do you believe in rapture ?

    Sunday afternoon

  • whateverornever

    гавно

    Sunday afternoon

  • Alex_psychopaul

    Sonic Death

    Sunday morning

  • sk_maniak

    kool thing

    Friday evening

  • ksjn

    phonic !!tooth

    last week

  • niiar

    COMING SOON #BANDOENGSCHE ON APRIL 2012! WAIT US!

    last week

  • stockurs

    much love for Sonic Youth , fucking cool band. A band in my local area are called Biri. If you like Sonic you might dig these too: http://www.last.fm/music/biri

    last week
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HALLOGALLO 2010 - IN MEXICO THIS WEEK

25 Aug 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/sonicyouth

Steve will join Michael Rother ( NEU!)  and Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) to form HALLOGALLO 2010: Michael Rother and Friends perform the music of NEU! Together they will play music by NEU! as well a...

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