Sonic Youth

Confusion Is Sex / Kill Yr Idols EP

Released February 1983 / October 1983 on Neutral Records/Zensor Records

Over on Spectrum Culture we’re doing a weekly chronological look at the discography of that most avant-cool of alt rock groups, Sonic Youth. I had the pleasure of tackling their first full album, 1983’s Confusion is Sex, as well as the Kill Yr Idols EP that was done for a small German label in the aftermath. You can follow the button below to the full piece. I read three books to prepare to dive into these two records: Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life, Kim Gordon’s Girl in a Band, and Thurston Moore’s Sonic Life: A Memoir. Gordon’s was total vibes, Moore’s was very detailed, and Azerrad’s was a great snapshot of where the band was at in the lead up to, during, and after the recording process. There were any number of great asides and anecdotes I couldn’t include because they were slightly outside of the scope of the article, but I encourage you to read all three, especially if you also want Swans lore as well.