"DON'T LOOK BACK"
SONIC YOUTH performing "Daydream Nation"
THE SCIENTISTS performing "Blood Red River"
The Forum, Melbourne
Wednesday 20 February, 2008By PATRICK EMERY
A mere five days after the spectacular Died Pretty and Ed Kuepper gig, and more album celebration beckoned us. The Scientists (the presence of the definite article in the band's title has been the source of some discussion on other electronic fora) had reformed to play the CD version of its debut long player Blood Red River (released originally as a six-song EP), while Sonic Youth, a regular (and always welcome) visitor to Australia were playing the band's seminal Daydream Nation album in its entirety.The location for tonight's show was the venue previously known as the Metro at the top end of Bourke Street. Recently taken over by the proprietors of the Palace Theatre in St Kilda (which last year lost its long battle with the forces of commercial development, and was earmarked subsequently for renovation and/or demolition), the new owners have decided to re-badge the venue as, er, The Palace. After loitering in a line almost longer than the customs gate at Los Angeles Airport, we wandered into the venue to hear the dulcet tones of the Scientists running through Set It On Fire. As expected, the first visit to the bar resulted in a hyperventilating reaction – cans of VB were $6 (a 50c saving from the Forum), but the only other beer on offer – Corona, which I hadn't consumed since the early 1990s – was being offered for the St Kilda-like cost of $9. By force of financial reality, this was not going to be a night of massive beer consumption.
Initially the sound seemed a bit rough, and possibly inconsistent with the Scientists' style. Thankfully, for whatever engineering or subjective reason, the sound filled as the night went on. Kim Salmon introduced Revhead – a sorely underappreciated tune – by referring to the band members' origins in the suburbs of Perth, and the fascination of teenagers with fast cars (which, in hindsight, is preferable to the middle-class fascination with four wheel drives). On bass Boris Sudjovic was his usual enigmatic self, still looking ever inch the Sideshow Bob character. Leanne Chock on drums still seems to be relishing her (occasional) return to the live scene, having been enticed back to the drum kit for the Scientists' 2004 European tour. Tony Thewlis, back in the country again to reprise his own role on guitar, is in excellent form, his use of a bottle of Stella to exact a new sound from his guitar nicely rounded up with a swig from that same bottle.
As the set evolves, the room seems to fill with that dark, damp and swampy sound the Scientists created in the early 1980s. Salmon wails with intent on Solid Gold Hell, and chants his way through Happy Hour. We Had Love never disappoints, though tonight's version doesn't reach the cascading crescendo of other versions I've had the pleasure to witness. Later on a few punters claim the mix destroys Thewlis' guitar, but in the middle of the pit it's hard to hear much more than Salmon's vocals against a backdrop of Sudjovic's thundering bass lines and Chock's tough as nails drum beat. Backwards Man is as threatening as ever, and Murderess in a Purple Dress packs a fairly healthy psychotic punch. We're hoping for Fire Escape, or When Worlds Collide but they're not on the list – but all is forgiven with When Fate Deals Its Mortal Blow.
In the 1980s Sonic Youth was one of a core of groups that laid the foundation for the indie/grunge phenomenon. Despite migrating to major label status, Sonic Youth have never stopped pursuing their own musical agenda. While not everyone has enjoyed their more recent material (though Rather Ripped is as strong a return to form as you might hope), there's no questioning the band's integrity and commitment to the cause at hand. Looking at them on stage tonight and it's difficult to comprehend that three quarters of the members of Sonic Youth are in their 50s (drummer Steve Shelley being the baby of the group at 45). Lee Renaldo – whose production duties on the early You Am I releases render that material infinitely better to later output – is a master of the weird and wonderful freak-out fuzz. Kim Gordon is an icon of cool – so cool, in fact, that I reckon even the most charismatic of males would be reduced to garbling mess if Gordon so much as nodded at him. Thurston Moore still looks like the weird college kid he was thirty years ago, his eyes shielded from observation by the mat of hair hanging over his face.
Daydream Nation isn't everyone's favourite Sonic Youth album – its polished feel is streets away from the band's no wave origins – but it's arguably the album that illustrated Sonic Youth's transition from cult interest to commercial entity. Teenage Riot is the album's signature tune and while the meandering start to the song confuses some people in the crowd, it quickly picks up pace. The collection of guitars behind Renaldo and Moore resembles a display of drivers at a golf shop, and the guitar technicians are flat out handing both guitarists a new instrument to tackle. Silver Rocket, Eric's Trip and Kissability are particular favourites, and it's probably the first time most of the audience has heard the fifteen minute Trilogy in its live guise.
Having exhausted the Daydream Nation material, Sonic Youth returned on three occasions to give the audience more of what they wanted. Much of the encore material came from recent releases – Drunken Butterfly, Incinerate, a bunch more of the same vintage – and it was here that the band seemed to be in its most enthusiastic mode. Freed of her bass, Gordon danced wildly (you've gotta love the windmill) and confirmed that old rockers can rock just as hard as snotty teenagers in a garage.
And it was in that youthful exuberance that lay the beauty of this show – Sonic Youth transcend time and space. They're playing in Melbourne in 2008 like it's New York in 1981, or London in 1988, or Tokyo in 1995. There's no pretension – these people want to play rock'n'roll like it's the first time, every time. There's always a new sound to be identified, a new combination of fingers, strings, frets and metallic objects, a new permutation of dials and switches. It's art for the sake of artistic exploration, but without the wank factor. Tonight wasn't about Daydream Nation – it was about the human spirit, and how it age shall never weary Sonic Youth's spirit. Long may they reign.
