Bad Moon Rising

by

Sonic Youth

Edit

This would be album #2 by the best American rock band of the last 25 years. Actually, you can even scratch the "American" part, since no band in the last quarter century has been as influential or innovative. Sorry, Radiohead, I love ya, but Sonic Youth are the masters. U2? Don't even get me started.

On second thought, the "American" part might be appropriate for this release, which is among many other things a quasi-concept album about America, at least in an abstract way. Most of the songs bleed into each other, giving the impression of something larger going on. That would be at once accurate and off-base. Sonic Youth are a close-knit band, so ideas get passed around like a virus. A couple of years later, they were all reading the same science fiction novels and the result was a masterpiece, "Sister." "Bad Moon Rising" wasn't a conscious attempt at a concept album, but since it could easily be mistaken for one, why not? It gives people like me plenty to blather on about. It also helps when they call the opening instrumental "Intro." The album in general seems to be a view of the Heartland from the point of view of people who moved to New York an escape from it. The title, which isn't used in any of the lyrics, references the famous Creedence tune and seems to be a dire omen. An oblique comment on Ronald Reagan and "Morning in America"? Perhaps, but Sonic Youth are too wily to make simplistic political commentary. The lyrics are impressionistic, from "Society is a Hole" ("...it makes me lie to my friends...") to "Ghost Bitch" ("Our founding fathers land rite down/& Indian ghosts from long ago/They gave birth to my bastard kin/America it is called...") to the Manson family obsessing "Death Valley '69." A general air of paranoia and psychosis hangs over the procedings, epitomized by a song called simply "I'm Insane." Musically, SY alter their clanging, oddly tuned guitars into amorphous clouds of feedback and static, swathing everything in ominous murk. It works brilliantly, creating an album that demands to be listened to in one sitting.

If that sounds all deadly serious, SY bring the ROCK like nobody else. "Death Valley '69" brings in guest vocalist Lydia Lunch (she invented Courtney Love) and tears the place down. You may find yourself singing "I Love Her All The Time" even when you're not in a drugged-out stupor, which is what Thurston Moore sounds like, but it's still tuneful in some bizzarro-world kind of way. Kim Gordon's bass line on "I'm Insane," along with Bob Bert's tribal drumming is particularly compelling. (Side note: this would be Bert's first and last SY disc before leaving to join friendly rivals Pussy Galore; their "Dial M for Motherf******" is highly recommended)

The Geffen reissue edition adds on some crucial non-album tracks. "Flower" and "Halloween" were originally issued as 12" single and only add to the mayhem. Sonic Youth created the sound that defined the underground scene in NYC's Lower East Side, and soon this comment on the Heartland would influence it, giving rise to great (if lesser-known) bands such as the Cows and Hammerhead. Even today, the sheer freakiness of on display here is a "Bad Moon Rising" indeed, but in a good way.

Sonic Youth is a band in constant motion, gradually broadening their horizons with every ensuing album. While this evolutionary approach to music has spawned some of the most unique and groundbreaking rock albums of the past century, Sonic Youth�s rampant experimentation has produced a few not quite as noteworthy duds as well. �Bad Moon Rising�, an obvious transition album between the rhythmically dense noise of �Confusion is Sex� and the vibrant, spacious terrain of �Evol�, is unfortunately a perfect example of the band�s finished product falling short of their grand ambitions. Although it is still an engaging listen, since it does bear the SY mark of authenticity, Bad Moon Rising is definitely one of the group�s least successful attempts at growth. Abandoning any trace of verse-chorus-verse song structures, a design that was common even in the band�s chaotic adolescence, Bad Moon Rising wanders through an abrasive collage of alternate tunings, drug-informed lyrics, and manipulated feedback. The album�s sense of openness and aural freedom later lent itself quite well to the far more restrained Evol, but without Sonic Youth making any moves to reign in their vast soundscapes, Bad Moon Rising desperately lacks a sense of focus and drive. This absence of direction undoubtedly hinders the album overall, but thankfully does manage to leave most of the CDs more redeeming traits intact. A steady onslaught of dark, fuzzed out reverb and Kim and Thurston�s alternating nonsensical moaning remain perversely fascinating to no end, satisfying any SY fan�s appetite for destruction, while more structured tracks, �Brave Men Run� and �Death Valley 69,� reveal the roots of the �enchantingly melodic anti-rock messiah� moniker the band later earned. Yet despite these several positive attributes, the avant noodling of Bad Moon Rising pales in comparison to the band�s numerous greater achievements, therefore taking on more of a historical importance than a musical one. This CD is a poor place to start any SY collection and considering the immense amount of truly brilliantly executed SY albums that currently exist in the world, Bad Moon Rising is really only recommended for diehards or collectors.

P.S.: If you do buy this album, be sure to buy the CD, not the vinyl, because it includes the 4-track Flower EP and Halloween is one of the best tracks on the album.