Is vs. Are
 

Sonic Youth are really rad

or

Sonic Youth is really rad

Is it the singular because Sonic Youth is a single entity, or is it plural because Sonic Youth is made up of multiple members? These things keep me up at night.

Are. But I wouldn't use the word rad ever.

is fo live motha

Pearl Jam is shitty.
The Beatles are legendary.
Talking Heads are really fun.
Sleater-Kinney was a good band.
The Cars were never very good.
Sonic Youth is ____
The Sonic Youths are ____

I'm an is fan.

Well, since you are posting in the wrong forum, no need to point out how bad your grammar is. ;)

is fucking rule, i'm doing a split with him.

techicly you only use "are" for plurls and "is" for singlar

Sonic youth is amzing.
Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore are amzing

Yr mom is sooo hot.
Oprah and her fans are stupid.

I could care less either way. Sorry, hat and bread.

Consider the source. The Cars are infinitely better than Sleater Kinney.

???

there was a thread about this on the old board.

i don't think a consensus was achieved.

the sonic youth rad police....
rad! seriously, you could have said seminal.

Are, definitely. Is just sounds stupid.

Just for the record: The word "rad" is not usually a part of my speaking vocabulary. It was the beer I tell you, it was the beeeer.











Seriously. It was the beer.

Interestingly, some buddies of mine recently discovered a hither to unknown universal law stating that a person can not be held accountable for any statements, actions, or contracts entered into after the consumption of 5 (or more) beers. Therefore I am free of guilt on all charges.


Back to the topic at hand... I think are sounds better, but is is not without its charm (in an "I'm so cute I can't speak right" sort of way).

Grammatically correct: is. Because Sonic Youth is a collective noun. As a collective noun, there is only one Sonic Youth entity, thus is. **Edit: now I think about it, I may be looking for a phrase other than collective noun. Liverpool is the best football club. A murder of crows is a worrying thing. No, I might be right. It's something to do with nouns anyway. **

However.

I never, ever abide by this. Because, to my personal epistemoloy/ sense of language, saying 'is' makes you sound like the sort of person who returns e-mails to people because they began a sentence with a proposition. And that sort of pedantry is antithetical to me. Also, saying are asserts that a band is made of individuals, and addresses them as such.

I agree with Glice. Although I'm not sure what he was saying.

He sounds very clever, for sure.

I agree with Crumb's Crunchy Delights. He agrees with me.

He sounds very perceptive, for sure.

Haha. Clever and funny.

deerhoof ARE awesome
apple o' IS the best thing ever