Sonic Youth: The New Wave Out of No Wave Documentary

[@drugstoreeyeliner9936]

"a lot of people see rocknroll as youth culture but when youth culture gets monopolised by big business, what are the youth to do?"

[@JokersNtheOddball]

Alot of people see modern musical genres as developed inventions of musicians, despite the fact that the government has been researching meticulously the effect of frequency and rhythm on the human psyche for hundreds of years prior to the last century. Life's a joke, what can u do

[@Ixe2077]

What does the government doing expirements on "Frequency and rythmn on the human mind" have to do with music today? More accurately woth mainstream music, because that what I'm assuming you're insinuating. @@JokersNtheOddball

[@DemigodCodex]

@@Ixe2077 Read about the Tavisstock institute.....you're welcome...

[@NickZazove]

I made this video back in college as a thesis for my history degree. My professor loved it, and I decided to post it on KZbin at the nonchalant suggestion of a friend. I can't believe I have 29k views and people commenting regularly to this day. I feel excited to read them when I get an email notification about it! I am preparing to make some more documentaries. As an artist myself, I want to keep making them to give homage to my heroes and the scenes that paved the way. Which artists or bands would you like to see me talk about next? The biggest help would be to subscribe to the channel. It's a dream of mine to create content like this for years to come. Thank all of you watching!

[@BreedersSyndicate]

KILLER job dude

[@iwannadrinkfromyourwideeye2635]

They were Satanists and the female singer is actually a man a tranny and they were shit.

[@graphicalaffairs]

Nice background on the band. 1991 TYPB, is one of my earliest VHS band vids. 👍

[@Tamar-sz8ox]

Thank you ! wishing you the best ❤

[@schizoid6673]

Well done mate!

[@enders357]

I loved the cut to Bon Jovi as Thurston talked about rock n roll being monopolised by big business.

[@bobparker8294]

I once met Steve Shelly. He was a very friendly and down-to-earth kind of person. Neither his appearance nor his demeanor gave a hint that he was a member of one of the most important and influential bands of the last 40 years.

[@faz09]

same experience, super down to earth.

[@aisle_of_view]

I said hi to Kim as she was shopping for shoes at the Beverly Center. She said hi back!

[@stretchhfab7315]

That's a bold statement.... most influential band in the last 40 years.... good thing opinions are like assholes.... you should get out more, cause these guys are garbage musician

[@bobparker8294]

@@stretchhfab7315 Thanks for weighing in. I willl consider your opinon for a few seconds..............................there, I'm done. Meh. Nice talking to you. Stop by again when you can't stay as long.

[@jakejones6056]

"It's a dare to our parents" says the guy in his mid-30s...LOL

[@brannonmcclure6970]

If you bore people you can’t belong to the club.🧑‍🎨♾️🇺🇸

[@biocykle]

Well the guy has parents in their 50s-60s-70s...

[@mrbonham3295]

Sonic Youth one if the greates bands of all time

[@sonicboy19]

Great doc! Thanks for including the live reverberated remix video I made of Shaking Hell on a whim years ago! :)

[@beauyerks7413]

Evol....is soooo fukin good and under appreciated

[@MoncoField]

Thats always the first SY album i listen to first. So damn good

[@AustinTXSlasher]

I really enjoyed this video. I've been a Sonic Youth fan since the early 90s. I love the clip you used for "Making The Nature Scene", as that's my favorite version of that song. You did great with talking connections between the band and other musicians, as well as the isolation that Kim was feeling in finding herself. I also loved the parts from The Year Punk Broke - it's an awesome documentary. I can see why your professor loved this project. Cheers, good sir!

[@inthekingdom1996]

Psychedelic, cool, punk, experimental, artistic and technical. They stand alone to me. Nobody is like them. They did what they wanted and still got huge, still played the big festivals. Thurston, Kim, and Lee have all written incredible songs and Steve is the best unknown drummer there is

[@hughzapretti-boyden9187]

As original as a steaming turd.💩😂

[@NickZazove]

It's remarkable how they were able to take that step forward. They were accused of selling out, but to market such a radical musical vision (in the context of pop) is a huge win in itself for the industry. I believe it has taught people - like myself - that anything goes. And any unique talent can find success in their own lane.

[@barrylevinsky1152]

Steve Shelly, and as I just realized the perfect symmetry about how he joined the band, has for a long time been known as besides being a real good dude, was in the US Mid-West Hardcore scene a respected and noted kick ass drummer of the family friendly melody rich smooth grooved good timey Wis. hardcore foresome Crusifucks, who kidding aside were hard hitting and uniquely experimentalish with tempo song structure and presentation in an aggressive punk context. Kim said they became slightly less jam based and less open ended song writing wise and more tighter and structurely song oriented, which just compared to Bob Bert and their first 2 LPS only and is a kinda funny outlook cuz OK Sister is more ROCK than what they had done but in no way is it comparable to anything at the time mainstream commercial, like say REM, U2, The Cure, Bon Jovi,etc if anything occasionally having death valley 69 played on MTV at 2 am with black flag tc party or minutemens this ain't no picnic and/or playing on bills with bands of similar ethics and asteticks, Butthole Surfers, Firehose, Meat Puppets, Green River, Mufongo, Bug Black, Bikini Kill. After A Thousand Leaves they did all the SYR releases and if anything became more experimental than they ever were.

[@decompisition]

dude this is actually awesome, the transitions and commentary were all timed perfectly

[@hjillumi880]

lol omg why is this shit anime everywhere styled like our cultures why have we been hijacked and made fashion and attached to things we hate

[@markanderson3870]

Thurston Moore talking about youth and him making music as a dare to his parents when he was 36 is pretty funny. Daring your parents when you're 36? Ha ha.

[@Pretermit_Sound]

Nice video! Sonic Youth has been my favorite band since about the 6th grade, just after Washing Machine came out. They were like nothing I’d ever heard before, and was probably the only experience in my life I could describe as “having an epiphany” or “spiritual awakening”. I can trace nearly all of my musical/artistic tastes back to them. I was lucky enough to see them live twice, and will be forever grateful they shared their art with the world. ✌🏻💕

[@sexobscura]

I was at a festival of Underground bands in the 90s where Sonic Youth had just ended a song in typical feedback style, but which Beck played on harmonica as his set began. It was absolutely STUNNING and spur of the moment MAGIC

[@kopyforever]

#soniclife ♥

[@webbnf]

Stumbled upon Sonic Youth again about a year ago and can't believe what I have missed... Thanks for the vid/doc. Much appreciated!

[@underworld-USA]

AMAZING video! Sonic Youth has been in my top 3 favorite bands since i was in college. This was so well put together, and I really love the fact that you went into Kim Gordon's personal feelings about being in the band and all that, i think this sometimes gets overlooked..apparently there is supposed to be another book about them coming out sometime later this yr, should be good!

[@counterculturewrestling]

Excellent documentary. Well done! I thought it was a real 80s doc until Kim Gordon's book appeared which says a lot! This is just the best band ever. Love everything they stood for.

[@NickZazove]

Thank you! I am proud of it myself, especially since I created it on a very tight deadline as a college student.

[@abraxasjinx5207]

Thank you for the great footage and the guitar tuning charts!

[@robertgroslezard202]

If i can resume SY to one sentence : "destroy to rebuild".

[@forevermidi_com]

Sounds like Graham Greene via Donnie Darko

[@sexobscura]

much like Einsturzende Neubauten

[@sexobscura]

@@forevermidi_com "I'm going to have to finish this conversation ..."

[@TheMaxKids]

Comrade!,,😂

[@marcopervo]

That early Sonic Youth was great psychedelic rock.

[@sexobscura]

... and their BEST stuff. Confusion Is Sex, Kill Yr Idols and Bad Moon Rising are magnum opuses. DN was the summit and 'perfection' of all they'd done up to that point, but from Goo onwards became such a downhill run of progressively repetitive 'tunes' (and the Grunge thing didn't help any, either). At least their SYR stuff was an encapsulation of their early muse

[@Pearls_Have_Eyes]

renaldo is a big dead head

[@inthekingdom1996]

The music is psychedelic and produces that effect for me almost. EVOL is my favorite, it came from some other plane

[@sexobscura]

@@inthekingdom1996 It's an okay collection of music, I grant, but their real early few albums (even the first one) contained that spirit of wild, punchy psychosis ... and 'Sonic Death' is a fantastic document to their abandon

[@votkiskoc]

U mean post psychedelic industrial noise ?

[@alejandrovenegasheresi2697]

Well done!! I love the editing, the info, the coherence

[@CorduroyPaco]

Great project! I'm almost finishing listening to Thurston Moore's autobiography and am always on the look out for more Sonic Youth stuff to devour and this was a great watch!

[@Powerneck]

One of the Greatest and Important bands..FACTS

[@elijahgiter9559]

The guy explaining the difference in brats is wearing a stereo mcs t-shirt? Absolutely awesome

[@maxpower21c]

I saw those guys open up for New Order back when Connected was on the radio. When they hit the stage, everybody was clowning them, but they threw the fk down, and by the time they closed their set with an epic, ten minute mega-version of that single, Everyone in the entire amphitheater was Connected. Still one of the greatest sets I’ve ever seen.

[@simonetta-ta]

👍🏽 , bravo Nick !!! I was so lucky to see them in the early 80 s live in a movie theater in Berlin. I was ... blown away & will never forget it!!!💥

[@disseminationnetwork]

Thanks for posting the song chords from the albums. Really cool to see those!!!

[@maciejlesna3411]

Awesome vid. I`ll send it to my people right away!

[@2ndfebruary547]

Sonic Youth is music of my heart ❤

[@AmericanSpyFox]

Hey, did you put this together yourself? If so, its really good and you should make more.

[@Erosgates]

For real!

[@jaimmerogers4383]

Most of this is from their "The Year That Punk Broke" video.

[@joserodrigues-vq8pz]

Congratulations on this fabulous documentary...

[@vomales]

Fantastic documentary. Thank you

[@troygaspard6732]

Noise wave, not new wave. They were mighty to see in the 80's.

[@randymunoz_]

I must admit that at times they were too childish to take them seriously, but their message was so provocative and influential in a way that it shaped me to be who I am today. Maybe it was the way I wanted to see punk, the way I wanted to learn about it.

[@ganderson6307]

Hiya Nick, Been a Y fan since Goo. Had a lot to catch up on, and a lot to look forward to. Now in my 50's I still dicover new music. I also discover what other people elsewhere, from different generations and backgrounds, think of this stuff. Great work. I look forward to seeing yr other stuff. Peace from Scotland

[@chrisw8939]

Still waiting for a more formal and cohesive SY documentary with the participation of band members and their contemporaries... but as a brief tribute, this is still very well done.

[@BellsCuriosityShop]

There was a South Bank Show episode that was made.with them. It was made around the time of Daydream Nation. I saw it on YT a few years ago.

[@Man_Ray78]

That statement about the KGB throwing Gorbachev off the throne, and expressing worries about what they would do in the future, ages well. I saw them live at a small Club here in Iceland around 2003, I think. Even though they were playing for us, they put anything they had into the performance.

[@anadraham2995]

This was fuckin great - fantastic cadence and inflection (or lack there of). Talk about more stuff please 🙏

[@slugbaited]

put this in a time capsule for future aliens to see how cool humans could be. no seriously dope documentary thanks for sharing. my favorite band of all time.

[@jerrystewart6232]

Great band, thank you for sharing this gem

[@ethanhitchcock5431]

Oh the memories , moving to Boston after high school to attend art school , getting into Sonic Youth ( obsessively ), then my older brother moves in with me , he would say to me " How can you listen to this..? the guitars are out of tune ! ) , It would make me laugh my guts out ....Always really loved ' Ciccone Youth ' ' Halloween ' and of course the first album...Thanks Nick ~~~~~~~~*******++++++*****+++++

[@NickZazove]

Of course. Sonic Youth represents an entire culture of artists and art-appreciators very well!

[@gerardoaguilar4235]

I haven’t met a single person who knows of sonic youth , I need new friends 😢

[@AngryNegativeHistoryProject]

They've moved to a different planet

[@jodyreynolds81]

I was the same too for a very long tine

[@NickZazove]

I am the same as well!

[@deepdriedinkelvin]

Oh I love this! Still my fave band. Thanks Nick and howdy from Berlin

[@aisle_of_view]

If you're new to Sonic Youth, start with the "Goo" album. It's a real toe tapper and a pleasant introduction to this amazing band.

[@kerstinover4536]

Goo is good, but Daydream Nation is a better choice for a first time listener.

[@mrcodhead67]

Ace little documentary.

[@mcwarhol17]

Thanks for this!!

[@crisha721]

awesome vid. thanks for the wonderful job

[@stavroskaranikolopoulos90]

Excellent 👌

[@43lk]

I love it, chaos fits me here... I'm ancap and they are opposite of cap, love it

[@dhollsynthmusic]

i love the '83-'87 Sonic Tooth period....dark no-wave mastered.

[@MoncoField]

I love everything Sonic Youth did, but those '83-'87 years are my absolute favorite. Those albums are hypnotic and never get old

[@edlastimosa5872]

amazing video

[@futuristica1710]

Legends!

[@barbmorrison9873]

great mini doc. but im pretty sure philip glass didnt own greene street studio.

[@cincercincer9027]

Where i can find the full clip from 12:47?

[@grinningevildeath]

It’s from the film ‘1991-the year punk broke’ pretty sure it’s on KZbin as well

[@domdom9496]

This is not a very good intro to SONIC YOUTH...just get some joss sticks, light them, lie on your bed, don't move and play BAD MOON RSING album vinyl.

[@tudormiller887]

Still influential in 2024. 👍

[@bergochdalmannen]

Great 👍

[@bergochdalmannen]

Im not a bot btw

[@NickZazove]

@@bergochdalmannen Thank you, I promise I'm not a bot either haha

[@bergochdalmannen]

@@NickZazove ey it would be nice with some more music

[@Esthersnest]

Well done!

[@henrybrant-z4l]

Sonic Youth happened when no wave was mostly over. They pretty much commercialized it back into a simple rock and roll format.

[@cherrielee144]

Awesome!

[@stephentanner9767]

Thanks this very good

[@jeroenputzeys769]

Wasn't expecting a course on sausage.

[@tonysmith5878]

MUSIC IS BEAUTIFUL. TO BE INTO AS MANY GENRES AS I AM GIVES YOU SOME CREATIVITY. I'M IN LOVE WITH MUSIC OF ALL KINDS BECAUSE OF GROUPS LIKE THE "YOUTH"...AND KIM YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUCH LOVE.

[@tonysmith5878]

DAMN....I HAVE A SCRATCH RECORD WITH THE INTRO TO THIS SHORT DOC! I BECAME A FAN OF THESE CAT'S AFTER BUYING "CRASS"...THE PUNK GROUP....NOW I HAVE SONIC YOUTH VINYL ALSO.

[@allah733]

i am a new sy fan, could someone please tell me the name of the very last song at the end? nice doc btw

[@velouria5511]

dirty boots fav sy song!

[@TimeTraveller010]

Those guitars need psychological counsel after the torture they go through, congrats S.Y. Are you an Anglo-Australian viewer? You are unique in the world, no one can trump your ideals...

[@sirphineasluciusambercromb9114]

No Sonic Youth and Melvins. No Nirvana, Soundgarden, AiC, Pearl Jam, STP, Gen X

[@scottboyd3838]

Hey, not shitting on this, I love it, keep it up kiddo!!

[@felixthelmocevallosmorales41]

Steve Jay Shelley, baterista estadounidense, nacido el 23 de junio de 1963 en Midland, Míchigan. Formó parte de la formación original de la banda de punk: "Crucifucks".

[@sexobscura]

TienesEs correcto. También descubrí su segundo nombre a través de ti. Bien

[@alanhansmannkurtcobain8811]

Great band!

[@scottboyd3838]

It's funny how it took Grunge to hit for Sonic Youth to get more recognition, like they were going hard in the very early 80's, but it wasn't until Nirvana, for Sonic Youth to be retroactively put under that Punk Umbrella, aka Grunge, which was not Sonic Youth, but like Mudhoney, they were brought to the forefront by the brief Grunge explosion before the inevitable decline of most, ( heroin), and Youth just kept on going right until Thurston decided to have an affair, and boom, Sonic Youth is no more as of, 2016-17.

[@johnunderwood3132]

As much as I love this band, I only have 2 vinyls from them.

[@kolin572]

sick video bro thank you

[@stvnm5282]

Nice vid

[@TheRealCaptainFreedom]

Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth. Psionic Yoof.

[@thjonez]

dont be surprised thats how inventive sy is

[@felixthelmocevallosmorales41]

Thurston Moore 25 de julio de 1958 64 años

[@jeremytalbott4323]

It's funny what Kim Gordon says about NYC 🗽, because it's still like that in my opinion 😅😂

[@massgeneral9873]

"a dare to our parents"? he had to be, what, at least 35 when 'the year that punk broke" came out? its funny, you read the term 'elder statesmen' of indie rock or whatever in a lot of critical hagiographies of sonic youth, but in a weird way they remained committed to the same state of perpetual adolescence that you see in the mainstream rock traditions they were supposedly critiquing. its just a different version of perpetual teen-dom, with hipper, more urbane footnotes than you find in a bon jovi bio.

[@PrvtIdaho]

Awesome job! Did you do the voiceover? It’s great!

[@kristopherkrueger4617]

Sonic Youth are a totally cool, unique, innovative original band. They don't require overt collegiate dictionary description. LISTEN TO THE MUSIC.

[@eyelooksawaythenlooksback3077]

Who were some of the unfortunate N.Y bands that didn't make the album?

[@NickZazove]

Eno's compilation album, "No New York," was 24-tracks and only featured Mars, DNA, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Contortions. For a very diverse and artsy scene, it was strange that he left off bands like Gray or the all-female group Disband. I think Eno himself has very particular, niche tastes, but I don't think it's a coincidence that Arto Lindsay of DNA or Lydia Lunch of TJ&tJ were able to expand their musical catalogues more easily than, say, Disband, who never put out a record. Many no wave artists had fruitful artistic careers outside of music, with a lot of crossover into sculpting or, as Illona Granet of Disband did, signpainting. I think that the commercial lineage of no wave today, outside of New York, really lives on through the critical examination of bands like Sonic Youth, Swans, the iconic CBGB punk bands, and in a more abstract sense a band like LCD Soundsystem. They are all but a few bands who have taken influence from no wave, directly and/or indirectly, but we might not be talking about no wave at all if not for their relative success.

[@louisgardner5580]

@@NickZazove Yea the band bad static also has some no wave influence

[@brendonkellas9778]

This should be called Sonic Youth: The first decade with lots of footage from the 92 tour video. I cant believe you skipped Sister. And bad moon came out in 84.

[@RishPanjeetJr]

LOVE SY’s music and contribution to all things gear/guitar. When they speak and write, however, I tend to want to never hear them speak/write again. Lee is chill tho.

[@manolispates8206]

Prob no need to actually show us Emerson, Lake and Palmer. We’re good for that 👍

[@omind1]

......nice art drone via rock that was a ok. Not as bad ass as the Touch and Go bands , or the folks over at Am Rep. But they did ok.

[@tonysmith5878]

I'VE HAD "THIRSTINITIS" FOR YEARS NOW FOR WAX.

[@TeatroGrotesco]

This isn't Sonic Youth this is a book summary of Kim's book. Background on the band given here, they were broke in the early days but musical genius, and then got a record deal but for 4 albums only Kim did or said anything during that time. Fine book summary but not a doc on Sonic Youth, like claiming Intimidation Game was a docu-series on WWII, he was part of it but his story is NOT the whole thing nor does it pretend to be.

[@awareaustralia2623]

Thumb nail says it all

[@OmarBarros]

This is how culture, art, music and creativity must act. Now is just gold diggers and wannabes, they all first appear as artists, but it's just an excuse for trying to be rich and famous

[@Simohayha8648]

Bro thourstyn moree turns into Henry Rollins at the start

[@darylcumming7119]

The eighties.

[@DeezNoots47]

Sonichu

[@dannyhood7433]

I remember the first time i heard sonic youth, it was like hendrix 'static noise'. I had to except sonic youth, because no one played that in mid 80s. It was necessary, mtv was mostly preppy fashion that just sucked..I never really listened to sonic youth except that distorted guitar, and 'superstar' cover by the carpenters. I listened weird guitar instrumental (polyphia pop proghop ).But sonic youth i respect.

[@NickZazove]

Sometimes, it just comes down to taste. I grew up on hip-hop and electronic music, only getting into rock-guitar driven bands after learning, from the fringes, how a guitar can be manipulated through timbre. Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Public Image, Zappa, Tom Waits, etc. came first. Then I found King Crimson in high school (it helped that my dad loved prog music). While you might not catch me listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan on purpose - it's a little far out from my origins - I really respect what he did for the Blues. And he helped introduce me to musicians like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, who arguably set the precedent for the performative expressionism that a band like Sonic Youth took to even further extremes.

[@loisloik2438]

Lou Rivaldo

[@amerikawoche8243]

binghamton!

[@hgodfrey]

Yeah but Alice Donut and Cardiacs

[@epinhervin9355]

😮 Kim real hair color was dark brown 👩‍🦰

[@seanclaytongray8153]

Daydream Nation

[@sugarhieroglyph]

😮 8:08 8⁸⁸⁸⁸⁸⁸⁸⁸88888888⁸⁸⁸⁸2⁴

[@lindah3954]

Most British New Wave was Motown with a Prophet-5. New Wave isnt the problem, nor is Motown. They are all plagiarizing each other and each genre. Just because its popular or a hit, doesnt mean its bad. All of the "No Wave" guys are ripping off what Beefheart was doing in the 1960s.

[@NickZazove]

The best artists know how to steal properly, don't they?

[@adtastic1533]

They're a great band but they do like to talk a load of bollocks sometimes. As if you can take them seriously.