Sonic Youth - Complex, Washington, DC, July 25, 1986
What the world needs now, is EVOL, sweet EVOL. Right? Just about 40 years ago, Sonic Youth was touring all over in support of their classic third LP, which had been unleashed earlier that spring. A lotta good tapes from this era, some officially released, some unofficially circulated. This Washington, DC, show falls in the latter category — but with its high-fidelity recording and high-quality performance, it could easily be added to the former.
By this point, drummer Steve Shelley had been in the band for a little over a year, and was fully integrated into the Sonic Youth sound and lifestyle. After a couple cool soundcheck snippets, Steve drives the band relentlessly through most of EVOL, only letting up occasionally for retuning breaks soundtracked by the pop hits of the day; there's a nice moment where Prince's "Kiss" is almost medleyed with "Shadow of a Doubt." The guitars are glorious throughout, especially on the majestic "Expressway to Yr Skull" and the raging Sister sneak preview of "White Cross."
Seems like there's some sort of DC scene altercation going on in the crowd during some of the set, as an unhinged dude threatens other audience members with physical violence and generally behaves inappropriately. Kim shuts him down finally towards the end: "Hey, whatever you do, don't show your dick, OK?"
Stephen Malkmus: EVOL striked us Noise-Rock kids like no other record. I was 20 years old back then and studied at the University of Virginia. That was a few hundred miles away from the New York Underground that Sonic Youth was revolutionizing at that moment. But when we listened to EVOL, it felt very close ... The force with which EVOL hit me is what makes this album unique to this day and so important from a biographical point of view. In most songs of the album there is a darkness that Sonic Youth gave up very soon after. You can almost call it Indie-Gothic-Rock. Also, on this record there’s “Expressway To Yr. Skull” – one of my absolutely favorite songs. The song plays just over seven minutes and offers everything that alternative guitar music can do during this time.
