When Sonic Youth’s fourth album “EVOL” (love spelled backwards) was released in 1986, the freshman class was in diapers. We were too young to realize the genius of Sonic Youth. If now Interpol and The Dears are indie-gods, then Sonic Youth during the 80s is the Zeus of them all. “EVOL”, is the first of a trio of late-80s must have Sonic Youth albums that shaped the entire indie landscape. The later two, Sister and Daydream Nation, finished the work that “EVOL” started.
“EVOL”, showed a distinct change in Sonic Youth’s overall sound. For one thing there was the addition to Steve Shelly on drums, which gave the band a harder edgier sound. On previous albums, Sonic Youth’s sound was more chaotic. Atonal vocals and strange verse structures it was simply primal. Primal, artsy, noise. Only they could turn guitar feedback into an artistic expression. It was what you would expect from an experimental, avant-garde band. With “EVOL” they started to become more structured, leaned more towards rock, and less raw. They sound more like a band than artists experimenting with musical instruments as opposed to paint.
On the song “Starpower,” Kim Gordon sings “she knows how to make love to me / she knows how to make love / close my eyes and think of you” over guitar riffs that sound as if the guitar needs to be tuned. The guitar reflects the grittiness of the song with Shelly’s slow yet steady drumming making the song that much more powerful. This is a “poppy” as the album gets.
Of course you cannot discuss “EVOL” with out taking a look at the final track “Expressway To Yr Skull” AKA “Madonna, Sean and Me,” whichever one you choose. It is the perfect end to a perfect album. The track has a slow pace to it, that mellows you out as you listen. With the shaky guitars and Thurston Moore’s off-key voice singing “we’re gonna find the meaning / of feeling good / and we’re gonna stay there as long as we think we should,” its reminiscent of a lullaby, in a good way.
The entire album is good, and is a must have staple. It helped Sonic Youth’s later albums become classics. If there is no EVOL, there would be no Sister or Daydream Nation. “EVOL” is the definitive Sonic Youth album. Their albums are now described in terms of before and after “EVOL”.
-Samantha Nwaoshai
