Published on Feb 11, 1998
No matter how many times I listen to
Daydream Nation, one image still burns in my head:that damn
candle on the album cover. Listen after listen, it feels like I’m
not listening to the album in the right environment. I feel like I
need two large sized speakers top of the line 1978 model, a old
house with a celing about 30 feet from the ground and a large
amount of pinewood.
Richly layered, but most of the layers are walls of white noise,
Daydream Nation bursts full of contradictions. The
avant-garde sounds of “Silver Rocket” and the lovely “Candle” seem
appropriate for high nosed art majors but the rousing teen-age
rebellion is all over “Teen Age Riot” and on the nightmarish,
“Eric’s Trip”, lead singer Thurston Moore even says “Can you dig
it?”
Fuck yeah, I dig it.
Daydream Nation was the
Slippery When Wet album for the ultra-hip high school clique
who wore black, read Hawthorne and Wilde and smoked incessantly.
Too bad it took me until 1994 to pick the album up.
What makes
Daydream Nation such a rare album is that it’s a definite
“mood album” in which all of the songs are memorable. Reading some
literature on the album, I found out that Moore often used piano
strings to string his guitar with. His ghostly vocal delivery adds
to the ‘old feel’ of the album.
Part punk, part Velvet Underground, part minimalism and all
inspiration,
Daydream Nation solidified Sonic Youth as the torch carriers
of the college music scene in the late 80s. Without major label
interference (Geffen knew that it would be ages before this band
saw the light of day on contemporary radio), Sonic Youth were able
to make this ambitious double album for about $100,000.
Underground heros with a big budget. That conflict erupts in the
last fifteen minutes of the album. Merging arty arrangements
musically, Moore recants living in the underbelly of New York.
“There’s bum trash in the hall and my place is ripped..”Moore sings
bitterly, it’s a stunning visual, especially with the thudding bass
and drum section of Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley.
If
Daydream Nation was a movie, it would be Kim Gordon who
would steal the show. In each of the songs she does vocals for,
“The Sprawl”, “Cross The Breeze” and especially the sexually
charged “Kissability.” On “Eliminator Jr.”, Gordon sings with a
confidence that few female rock singers sang with at that time.
After seeing Sonic Youth play, you see the power of a band that
has had some of the most interesting impacts on crowds. About 3/4
of the audience ran to the concession stands or the vendors, scared
off by the feedback fucking Moore. The other quarter watched in
awe.
For the runners, I simply say “pick up
Daydream Nation“. It’s their most likeable album, even more
so than
Goo. And if high art pretension intimidates you, don’t
worry, I heard “Silver Rocket” is a great song to make out to. The
band even throws in some humor with the song “Providence”. In that
song, indie posterboy, Mike Watt’s message is on Moore’s answering
machine. It’s basically him bitching Moore out for getting baked
and losing some tapes.
With
Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth were elevated to college radio
legends. And while most of the album has the feeling of a 1984 New
Yorker spinning out of control, the heavy guitar sounds offer a
padded cushion for the uneasy ride. And unlike the Velvet
Underground, you may not want to start up a band after hearing
Daydream Nation. You’ll just probably go out and start
stocking up on all the great college bands of the 80s and find a
scene that was still fairly untouched by the record industry.