Arpeggiator

I saw this clip recently on social media and was transfixed- three and half minutes of life affirming punk rock from August 1993, the mighty Washington DC band Fugazi. They were performing at The Concert For Justice on the thirtieth anniversary of Martin Luther King's March On Washington in the summer of 1963, an event attended by a racially mixed crowd of quarter of a million that showed the strength of feeling about civil rights and the desire for change. The march added to the pressure on President John F. Kennedy to enact civil rights legislation to improve the lives of the USA's African- American people. Three decades later Fugazi were part of a celebration of this, marking it in their own way with a style of music pretty much unheard of in 1963. 

Fugazi were a post- hardcore band, twin guitars, bass and drums, led by Ian MacKaye (who recently celebrated his 66th birthday, which probably why the clip was shared). Fugazi had a seething contempt for the music industry, were righteously independent and DIY and, as this clip shows, a fucking amazing live band... if you can't get some joy from watching this song, the band slamming their way through Brendan #1, then maybe there's no hope. The thumping drums, the tight rumbling bass and the interplay between MacKaye and Guy Piciotto's guitars, everyone utterly locked in and giving it their all in broad daylight and ending together on a perfectly precision timed stop- it's all thrilling. 

They followed that with Turnover, more and more of the crowd getting drawn in, the front rows bouncing up and down.

And then this one, Facet Squared, where they are in full flow. There's a girl in a purple vest top on the opposite side of the stage to the camera lost in her own world, dancing to Fugazi's fearsome racket. 

There are further songs and further clips from the gig on YouTube, well worth watching even if you don't think you're a fan of US hardcore. In 1998 I saw Fugazi at Manchester University, touring to promote their album End Hits. They were sensational and were playing Arpeggiator as we arrived, slightly late. Arpeggiator sounds like Neu! playing punk rock- life affirming, electrifying rock 'n' roll. 

It's The Song I Hate

Two weeks ago JC at The Vinyl Villain posted Sonic Youth's 1992 single Youth Against Fascism, the CD single version with a mix he picked up second hand some time after the event (one I didn't have either). Youth Against Fascism has taken over in my world ever since, not least during last weekend when approximately seven million Americans marched in cities across the USA against the ever- increasing authoritarianism of Donald Trump's regime. 

There are mid- terms next year when conceivably Congress could swing to the Democrats. Trump keeps deploying the army into cities with Democrat mayors, under the spurious excuse that it's to restore law and order. Trump's acolytes/right hand men, Hegseth and Vance, further stir the pot- see Hegseth's recent demand of loyalty from army chiefs. ICE agents pick up people on the streets without any due reason other than skin colour. Women and people of colour are routinely fired from government posts. Trump pursues his enemies in the courts and orders them removed from the airwaves. 

Sonic Youth's Youth Against Fascism has lost none of its power in the thirty three years since it was released. In fact it only gains it. The version JC posted was this one, a cleaned up version produced by Butch Vig for radio consumption back in the early 90s...

Youth Against Fascism (Clean- Ex Mix)

Kim Gordon's distorted bass riff, four notes pushed hard, and Thurston and Lee's guitars- detuned, drum sticks against the frets- and Steve Shelley's tom tom thumping drumming are exhilarating enough, a powerful smack in the chops for dictators everywhere. Thurston sings of cans of worms, stupid men, the Ku Klux Klan, impotent squirts, fascist twerps and believing Anita Hill- all in all, the sound of resistance. Minor Threat/ Fugazi's Ian MacKaye turned up in the studio to add feedback guitar.

A friend remarked over the weekend that this song and the album it's from (1992's Dirty) were from the point when Sonic Youth had singed to a major label (Geffen) and were perceived in some quarters to have toned their sound down to become commercial. Go back to the cleaned up version of Youth Against Fascism above or this one from the album and see how commercial they sound now in the hyper- commercialised world of pop music in 2025... 

Youth Against Fascism (Album Version) 

In 1992 Sonic Youth played Youth Against Fascism on Italian TV- the band's performance is great, they play it like they truly mean it. As ever with music on TV, the response of the crowd is as much part of the fun. 

Sonic Youth signed to Geffen for 1990's Goo, taking R.E.M.'s move to Warners as a model of how to be on a major and still keep your credibility. In the 80s and 90s, especially in US indie- punk/ hardcore, independence and credibility were everything- to sell out was punk rock death. Signing to a major label carried huge risks. 'Corporate rock sucks' stickers and t- shirts were everywhere, in the UK as well as the US.

Now, in 2025, the war against selling out has long been lost; selling out is an attitude that is very last century. Primal Scream soundtrack Marks and Spencer. London Calling sold British Airways. Unknown Pleasures and Bummed are in Primark. It's a lost cause. The Cult's She Sells Sanctuary currently flogs a betting company's wares- you could argue that The Cult were already corporate rock by 1985 when the single came out but you'd like to think that advertising a gambling company might be a step too far. Apparently not. 

I tut loudly and roll my eyes noisily when 'our music' soundtracks multinational corporations and their products, their adverts reducing our songs to mere content, vintage cool co- opted for capitalism. But, before I get too far on my high horse and try to be too purist about this I should add that when The Clash went to number one in 191 via an association with a Levi's ad I thought it was great, Should I Stay Or Should I Go blasting out of TV and cinema screens worldwide. 

Eight years later I thought this was a superb, tick following tock... 

Meanwhile, to go back to where we started, here's Sonic Youth and some perfume, Marc Jacobs and Teenage Riot combining to make you smell better... just like teen spirit. 

 

Forty Five Minutes of Sonic Youth

One of the evenings out in Fuerteventura, while pottering around, having a drink and getting ready to go out for tea, I had a sudden urge to hear Teenage Riot by Sonic Youth. One of the wonders of the internet age and mobile phones is that almost any song is only a few seconds and clicks away and within a few seconds the sound of Sonic Youth's 1988 masterpiece, the New York band's imagining of an alternative USA with Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis as President, was filling our hotel room. From there a worked my way through a few of my favourite SY songs, some of which I've pulled together into a forty five minute mix here. This could easily have been twice the length- or a part two could appear at some point. It focusses mainly on their 80s and early 90s output, the Sonic Youth of my youth- and their singles mainly too, not too many deep cuts. There's lots of 21st century Sonic Youth that's worth investigating and maybe I'll come back to it. 

Forty Five Minutes of Sonic Youth

• Teenage Riot
• Youth Against Fascism
• Computer Age
• Kotton Krown
• Death Valley '69
• Kool Thing
• Bull In The Heather
• Sugar Cane
• Dirty Boots

Teenage Riot is from 1988's Daydream Nation, a standard setting 1988 double album, an album which felt like the culmination of something, everything coming together. I could have included half the songs from it on this mix- Silver Rocket, Eric's Trip, Candle, Hey Joni... all indie- punk songs blending the art, noise and alternate tunings with  verse/ chorus melodies. Teenage Riot- one of the songs of the 80s.

Youth Against Fascism- how apt eh? A 1992 single and song from Dirty, the album from the same year, and one that shows the band engaging with politics, twelve years into Republican presidencies in the USA, Kim Gordon's bass a constant grinding menace, Thurston and Lee's guitars distorted and buzzing and Minor Threat/ Fugazi's Ian MacKaye guesting and doubling up on vocals. Sugar Cane is from the same album, the video filmed at a New York fashion show which had a Marc Jacobs grunge collection. It is also Chloe Sevigny's first appearance on film.

Computer Age is a cover of a Neil Young song, one from Neil's mind blowing 1982 album Trans. Sonic Youth take a song with vocoders and keyboards and reverse it into Neil's Crazy Horse backyard, a squealing lesson on how to do a cover version. Their covers of Within You Without You, Electricity and Superstar and as Ciccone Youth, Addicted To Love and Into The Groove are all similarly good. Computer Age was one of several highpoints on The Bridge, a 1989 Neil Young tribute album that also featured Pixies, Psychic TV, The Flaming Lips, Loop, Nick Cave, and Dinosaur Jr. 

Kotton Krown is from Sister, their album from 1987, an album loosely based around the writings of Philip K. Dick. Sister is one of the art rock/ noise milestones of the 80s. Kotton Krown is a blur of dreamy psychedelic noise.

Death Valley '69 is on 1985's Bad Moon Rising, written by Thurston who duets with Lydia Lunch, screwdrivers rammed into the necks of guitars, The Stooges summoned up, along with Charles Manson and the Spahn Ranch.

Kool Thing is from 1990's Goo, the first album released after singing to a major label, one of the album's standout songs. Kim wrote it after an uncomfortable interview with LL Cool J, two people coming out of New York music with very different perspectives. 'Are you gonna liberate is girls from male white corporate oppression?', she asks. Public Enemy's Chuck D responds. 

Bull In The Heather is from 1994's Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star, produced by Butch Vig. Kim wrote it with a viewpoint of seeing passiveness as a form of rebellion- 'I'm not going to participate in your male- dominated culture, I'm just going to be passive', she said of the lyrics. By 1994 Sonic Youth were big business in the indie/ alt- rock/ fashion/ video/ MTV worlds. Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna stars in the video. 

Dirty Boots is from Goo, the opening song and one that features every SY hallmark- tunings, noise, distortion, drawled vocals, building to a massive release several minutes in when the chorus finally hits, 'I got some dirty boots!'