I am honored to be posting the first official Indie Bastard music post on this glorious blog. As everyone hopefully already knows, music is primarily what defines an Indie Bastard as a true “Indie Bastard” as distinguished from a normal conformist bastard. Music, in my mind, is the most important component of the Indie world. For example, a person can be a third-party-supporting, puffin-loving, whole-foods shopping, Pantaloon, Toms, and flannel-wearing, black coffee-drinking prick and still not be anywhere close to an Indie Bastard. You may be thinking, ‘Bev, I am not catching your drift…’ Well, my fellow pretentious bastards, I have two things to say. First, I am not ‘throwing’ you a ‘drift’…what the fuck does that even mean? I have no driftwood and neither I nor anything close to me is drifting through any body of water right now. Is there even such thing as a ‘drift’? Secondly, while this person I just described fits many of the necessary criteria to achieve supreme Bastard (capital ‘B’) status, what if I were to tell you that this man listened to Bieber? Or Green Day? Or Nickelback (hopefully this person would be shot on site)? Or U2? Or Kings of Leon (their new shit that sucks ass)? Or The Rolling Stones? The Eagles? Bruce Springsteen (Heaven forbid…)? He’s not so indie anymore, is he? Maybe he’s nothing more than just an idiotic proponent of pusillanimous cockfaggery…
But anyway, this post (as well as my future posts) is extremely vital for your progression as an Indie Bastard and not, simply, for your progression as a bastard with no swag. We are all here to help you, not to turn you into a corporate goon. I urge you to listen to this album because, without it, you may have no hope to ever become a true Indie Bastard. It is general knowledge in the Indie world that without this album, you are a worthless human being (and a Republican…what?). My album choices in the future will be deeper cuts but, because this blog is an educational tool, we have to start with the basic fundamentals and work our way up.
SO FOR THE FIRST EVER INDIE BASTARD ALBUM OF THE WEEK, I PRESENT TO YOU:
SONIC YOUTH–Daydream Nation
Does this album cover remind you of Schindler's List? Fuck that corporate mainstream film. This was five years before that. Look at the angle, the perspective, the tone, the expression...Indie artistic brilliance.
When I think of the word ‘pretentious,’ I do not think of a certain academic or author or politician. I think of Sonic Youth, perhaps the mecca of Indie bands. Formed in 1981 in New York City, Sonic Youth were prominent figures in the “No Wave” art and music scene that was Indie as fuck in the early 1980s. The people associated with this scene were like Devendra Banhart on meth. I mean, for the love of God, the name “No Wave” was a satire of the corporate sponsored, mainstream, obviously horrendous “New Wave” movement. Sonic Youth was probably the most prominent band in the first wave of “noise rock” bands. When you read “noise rock,” you probably think of heavily distorted guitars, appalling lack of vocal prowess, irregular, never-before-used chord progressions that have never been used before for obvious reasons, and inane lyricism. If you are thinking this, then you are right…congratulations.
But the interesting part about Sonic Youth, especially this album which is hailed by Bastards everywhere as a masterpiece, is that, while their music is noise-driven and distorted with sub-par if not horrible vocals, relatively meaningless lyrics, and unbelievably obscure progressions and guitar tunings (when Sonic Youth thinks something is off, they tweak the tunings on their guitars, with most of their songs being almost impossible to replicate by the outside listening guitarist. Most of the tunings had never been used before and the tunings differ on pretty much every track. For this reason, Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore tour with dozens of guitars while on tour), there is a twisted beauty to every track on this album. This album is absolutely brilliant and, though an acquired taste for most fans, the album is a high point in the history of rock music. I give most of the credit to Moore and Ranaldo, who weave improvised yet constantly intricately meshing guitar lines with an approach that has not been equaled. To say that they are two of the best avant-garde, progressive, unique guitarists of all time is an understatement. In a critique of Sonic Youth’s 1986 album Evolv, the New York Times praised the band, stating that “Sonic Youth is making the most startlingly original guitar-based music since Jimi Hendrix” (Azerrad; 2001 (from his book Our Band Could Be Your Life)). Great praise indeed. The crazy part is that it’s actually true. From the opening riff of “Teen Age Riot” to the geek-out spaciness of “The Sprawl” to the astonishing 14-minute “Trilogy” which concludes the album, Daydrem Nation is one of the great guitar albums of all-time, right up there with Electric Ladyland, Layla, Overnite Sensation, Houses of the Holy, Who’s Next, Are You Experienced, Texas Flood, Master of Puppets, Dark Side of the Moon, and future Indie album of the week Marquee Moon. Also, the fact that Moore and Ranaldo play with modified Fender Jazzmasters (now the norm for experimental indie musicians) with screwdrivers jammed in the bridge for sound modification makes the indie glory of this album even more profound.
The biggest reason why Daydream Nation is the first-ever Indie Album of the Week, however, is not even its musical brilliance. This album is THE underground Indie album and it’s arguably the primary catalyst for the formation of the modern Indie youth culture. The album is artsy, pretentious, snarky, punky, innovative anti-pop with pop genius under the surface. Isn’t that what every Indie Bastard craves and wishes for his/herself? It doesn’t hurt that the flannel and glasses-clad singing/songwriting power-trio of Moore, Ranaldo, and bassist Kim Gordon pretty much made flannel and glasses the tits in early underground-indie culture. It is also important to note that Sonic Youth was one of the first ground-breaking bands to have a female bassist, an indie staple since the band’s formation in 1981. Without Sonic Youth, especially this ingenious 1988 masterpiece, there probably wouldn’t be too many legit Indie Bastards in this world, not to mention that there would be hardly any great underground indie guitar bands. Get this album……now.
IndieBastard 