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Okay, I'm game.
1. Dirty Boots. I still remember buying the vinyl on the day this album was released, walking home to my crappy apartment, and dropping the needle. I was curious, to say the least, because I figured there was no life after Daydream Nation. I think I thought DN was a fluke--that they'd lucked into being able to combine noise and lulling atmospherics with songcraft, wit and snazz. Fade up into that ethereal tone and you're immediately in space (life goes on after all). This is the first time Steve does that thing with the shaker to fill out (slightly off-kilter) his rhythm. That killed me and still does. Simple but effective--he's been my favorite rock drummer ever since. The lyrics are promising, but were better before I figured them out verbatim. The chord progression sounds totally familiar, even the proto-grunge freak out midway through, but that's because they invented that shit, not because you've heard it before. The song ends in swirls, but that last crash hit sounds like an afterthought, like a band in a room playing (complete with amp hum) when all this time you'd thought you were listening to an alien orchestra. This song is a masterpiece.
2. Tunic. Scary. Not funny. Where "The Sprawl" left off, this one takes over. It's the best Sonic Youth video, too. Some of Kim's best lyrics between "Shadow of a Doubt" and the stuff on "A Thousand Leaves."
3. Mary-Christ. Coming out of the oceanic couple of album openers, the first stab of this song reminded me of what a powerful rock band SY could be. Kind of fun--reminds me of the odd angularity of Thurston's songs on "Sister," which was my favorite album leading up to this point. Sill sounds good.
4. Kool Thing. In part, this is a great song because it captured something of the times--I think you had to be there, but maybe not. Imagine a moment when Nirvana still really weren't even that good. Grunge did not exist. Public Enemy were the most transgressive thing white dweebs like us could find. Then Kim comes along and does that duet. The other reason it's a great song is that it once and for all made good on the Stooges/MC5/Ramones cock-rock punk influence that'd been looking for a home in SY's music for years. The riff bends into their signature tunings in a way that is unique. No one will ever play a note of this riff more convincingly.
5. Mote. Fulfills the promise of Lee's poetry in song. One thing that tends to go unrecognized about Lee is that he's a confessionalist, and in some ways he's better at it than he is at being a beatnik. So the riff off of Sylvia Plath is both homage and spontaneous self-expression. This was released when I still believed in both. No mannerisms when he follows his lead part in the chorus, unlike Kurt's more widely imitated rendition of that little trick. The wind-out full of noise and churning (looping?) alien transmissions is totally spot on and plays out the ramifications of the pop song that leads into it. It never dissipates, so they fade it. I wish they'd have given us the whole thing on the reissue. Where did it go from there?!
6. My Friend Goo. Good for a laugh. But weirdly, years later, the damn thing gets stuck in my head and won't leave. I'd never say it's catchy, but I guess it is.
7. Disappearer. This one didn't stand the test of time. It's trying to do what candle did, but this time with better lyrics. I'll give it that. But I still skip it when this track comes on.
8. Mildred Pierce. Simple layering of a quasi-metal progression around some funked out new wave beat patrol--exploding into some art-school radio hijinks. At the time it seemed profound and I'd have killed or died to hear it live. Never will, I bet.
9. Cinderella's Big Score. Brilliant. Once or twice a rock song has seemed to be "talking about my life." This was one of those times. Everyone's playing for the song--they just gel. The vocal harmonies (subtle and few) are eerie and perfect. Also wish'd I'd heard it live.
10. Scooter and Jinx. This would make no sense if it weren't for the fade in immediately after. Well, the video makes sense of it in another way.
11. Titanium Expose. The raw, reflective feedback that opens this song is proof positive that the band have a sophisticated and widening sense of the sounds they are capable of producing without a plectrum. More new-wave leads interlacing over angular beats and occasional chunky rock passages that just sound great, especially here where most bands land their power ballad. The alternating vocals betweek Thurston and Kim are extraordinarly effective and should be used more often (see "Schizophrenia"). Like Daydream Nation, we're given a definite sense of closure. The coda collapses in on itself and we hear the very last touch of sound. It's also a love song, which they've proven to do so well without most people noticing. Compare to the next great album closer of that year: "Something in the Way." The Youth clearly emerge victors by contrast. I think that if they revived this song to close their shows, it'd become a "classic" in retrospect.
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