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For all the time I spent watching video music programming in the ‘80’s, I never remember catching a single Sonic Youth video. I recall seeing a news item on MTV once circa ’88 about the release of the Daydream Nation album and how college students routinely creamed their pants over Sonic Youth, but never an actual video.
So, here are those videos I never saw…and damn, they are great. Leaps of faith are often necessary when dealing with Sonic Youth, but if you can’t let yourself get fully zoned into “Shadow of a Doubt”, then possibly you can’t be helped. The ethereal perfection of Kim Gordon continues by way of “Addicted to Love”, basically proto-karaoke apt to leave you speechless. Speaking of purity, “MacBeth” represents what I would call the perfect alt-rock video; it’s got all the tell-tale elements, puppets included.
But wait, then the quintessential alt-rock song “Teenage Riot” flashes images of Kiss, Black Flag, and Mike Watt outlandishly rocking in a free world and the video makes me want to call it a landmark as well. With “Candle”, Thurston Moore leads the charge as Sonic Youth transitions to a larger video budget with which they proudly ignite a real full-sized car, you know instead of just a Matchbox car.
Hard to avoid the affinity Sonic Youth reserved for Iggy Pop and the Stooges, with wanting to be your dog and all. Actually, I love any comparison between bands in that each prove that the underground does deliver the goods every once in a while.
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