sonic youth: s/t

Sonic Youth’s eponymous debut 12-inch was recorded in late 1981 at Radio City Music Hall in NYC and originally released on composer Glenn Branca’s Neutral label. The album is loosely based on compositions the newly formed group had performed at that year’s week-long Noisefest event (and remains the only recorded document of an early line-up featuring actor Richard Edson on drums). Back in print, the Goofin’ Records edition also features extra live material from a 1981 gig and an outtake from a early studio session. “We wanted it to sound like PIL who we were into. It didn’t but we were lucky it came out sounding like a record. We did it in two eight-hour sessions at a studio at Radio City Music Hall called Plaza Sound. The janitor let us in the back door.” —Kim Gordon