Sonic Youth

Screaming Fields of Sonic Love (Geffen)
by Joshua Brown

A must for anyone who thinks Goo was Sonic Youth‘s debut album, Screaming Fields of Sonic Love documents their pre-“corporate rock” days on various indie labels from 1982-88. The compilation takes us backward in time, slowly stripping the varnish off their sound as we approach their ’82 debut on the last of 17 tracks. Along the way, we meet the likes of Madonna (SY’s hysterical and strangely believable interpretation of “Get Into the Groove”), the California girls (who must be sacrificed at the on-ramp to the “Expressway to Your Skull”), and angels who dream of humans. Support the power of women. Support the power of man. Use the word fuck. The word is love.