''EVOL'' is the third full-length studio album by the American
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
. Released in May 1986, ''EVOL'' was Sonic Youth’s first album on
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Tuners, a small business through which he sold electronics equipm ...
, and also the first album to feature then-new drummer
Steve Shelley
Steven Jay Shelley (born June 23, 1962) is an American drummer. He is best known as the longtime drummer of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, for whom he played from 1985 until their 2011 disbandment.
Biography
Shelley was born in Midland, ...
who had just replaced
Bob Bert
Robert Bertelli, better known as Bob Bert, is an American rock drummer.
Biography
Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, Bert initially came to prominence as drummer for the experimental rock band Sonic Youth during the early to mid-1980s. Bert pla ...
.
In retrospective reviews, critics cite ''EVOL'' as marking Sonic Youth’s transition from their
no wave roots toward a greater pop sensibility, while bassist
Kim Gordon
Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...
has referred to it as the band’s “
goth
A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were:
*Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history
*Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history
Goth or Goths may also refer to:
* Goth (surname) ...
record.”
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
has praised the album, saying that ''EVOL'' "
aswhere the seeds of greatness were sown", and placed the album 31st on their Top 100 Albums of the 1980s list, alongside Sonic Youth's next two albums, ''
Sister
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
'' and ''
Daydream Nation
''Daydream Nation'' is the fifth full-length studio album and first double album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on October 18, 1988. The band recorded the album between July and August 1988 at Greene St. Recording in Ne ...
'', which ranked 14th and first, respectively.
Background and recording
In June 1985, during the ''Bad Moon Rising'' tour, Bert left the band and was replaced by Shelley. The new lineup quickly began working on new material for their third album. The band signed to SST as, by 1986, label founder
Greg Ginn
Gregory Regis Ginn (born June 8, 1954) is an American guitarist, bassist, singer and songwriter, best known for being the leader, primary songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led ...
was anxious for the label to move away from its American
hardcore
Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to:
Arts and media Film
* ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film
* ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott
* ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
roots. Sonic Youth took a break from the tour and finished the writing for ''EVOL''. In March 1986, the band recorded the album at BC Studio with
Martin Bisi
Martin Bisi (born 1961) is an American producer and songwriter.
He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, The Dresden Dolls, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Ang ...
.
''EVOL'' was the second time that the band had worked with New York singer and
performance artist
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...
. Lunch had shared vocals on ''
Bad Moon Rising
"Bad Moon Rising" is a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the lead single from their album '' Green River'' and was released in April 16, 1969 four months before the album. The song peaked at No. ...
''
's "
Death Valley '69
"Death Valley '69" is a song by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth and featuring Lydia Lunch. The song was written and sung by Thurston Moore and fellow New York musician Lunch, and recorded by Martin Bisi in 1984. A demo version of the ...
", and on this record, she co-wrote the song "Marilyn Moore".
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter.
Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...
played bass guitar on the tracks "In the Kingdom #19" and the band's cover of "Bubblegum". The band encouraged him to play on the former track shortly after Watt's fellow
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...
band member
D. Boon
Dennes Dale Boon (April 1, 1958 – December 22, 1985) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the punk rock trio Minutemen. He was born on April 1, 1958 in San Pedro, California, and formed the Minuteme ...
died in a car crash. Coincidentally, the song is also about a car crash. Watt had entered a severe depression following Boon's death and was considering leaving his career in music behind. He credited the time he spent with the members of Sonic Youth during the recording of ''EVOL'' as a major factor in his decision to re-enter the music world.
Watt's next band,
Firehose, would support Sonic Youth on their Flaming Telepaths tour. During this time, the band began the
Ciccone Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
project, which featured all members of Sonic Youth and Watt. They released a single consisting of three tracks: "Into the Groove(y)" (a cover of
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's hit "
Into the Groove
"Into the Groove" is a song by recorded by American singer Madonna, and featured on the 1985 film ''Desperately Seeking Susan''. Written and produced by both Madonna and Stephen Bray, the main inspiration behind the song was the dance floor; t ...
", incorporating snippets of her recording) and the short "Tuff Titty Rap" on the
A-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
(both performed by the Sonic Youth members), and "Burnin' Up" (performed by Watt with additional guitars by Ginn) on the B-side. The project resulted in 1988's ''
The Whitey Album
''The Whitey Album'' is an album by Ciccone Youth, a side project of Sonic Youth members Steve Shelley, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore, featuring contributions from Minutemen/ Firehose member Mike Watt and J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. ...
''.
On the
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...
version of the album, the time length for "Expressway to Yr. Skull" was indicated by the
infinity
Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol .
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions amo ...
symbol (∞); the final moment of the song featured a
locked groove
The overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes (7, 10, or 12 inches), playback speeds (33, 45, or 78 RPM), and appearance (round black discs). However, since the commercial adoption of the gramophone record (ca ...
that repeatedly plays the last few seconds of a song, making it theoretically endless. The
CD version added a bonus track: the band's cover of the
Kim Fowley
Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...
tune "Bubblegum". According to Watt, he and Shelley played the basic rhythm track over the actual Fowley record, which was afterwards removed when the other members added their parts.
Packaging
The
album cover
An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-r ...
features a picture of model/actress
Lung Leg
Lung Leg (born Elisabeth Carr; July 8, 1963, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American pin-up girl and actress perhaps best known for appearing on the cover of the Sonic Youth album ''EVOL''. During the 1980s, she gained fame as a model and s ...
, a still taken from the
Richard Kern
Richard Kern (born 1954) is an American underground filmmaker, writer and photographer. He first came to prominence as part of the cultural explosion in the East Village of New York City in the 1980s, with erotic and experimental films like ...
film ''Submit to Me''.
Leg had previously appeared in the "Death Valley '69" music video (directed by Kern and
Judith Barry
Judith Barry (born 1954) is an American artist, writer, and educator best known for her installation and performance art and critical essays, but also known for her works in drawing and photography. She is a professor and the director of the MIT ...
). The back cover shows a black-and-white picture of the band in a heart-shaped frame. The album's 10 songs are listed in a different order than the actual track listing. The members' names are listed on the back cover as well, although no instruments are assigned for them. It reads "guitars, vocals, drums", with "bass" hidden beneath the photograph of the band. The insert features the lyrics to the songs and the A-side depicts
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...
, with eyes drawn on his hands, holding them up to his face. This photograph was later used for the cover of the "
Starpower" single. The other side contains pictures from horror movies ''
Friday the 13th Part 2
''Friday the 13th Part 2'' is a 1981 American slasher film produced and directed by Steve Miner in his directorial debut, and written by Ron Kurz. It is the sequel to 1980's '' Friday the 13th'', and the second installment in the franchise. Adrie ...
'' and ''
Children of the Corn'', with a blacked-out image of two ladies in the upper right corner.
Promotion
Sonic Youth debuted the new material for ''EVOL'' on April 12, 1986 in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
; a recording of that show was later released in 1992 as ''
Live at the Continental Club
''Live at the Continental Club'' is a live album by alternative rock band Sonic Youth, recorded at Continental Club in Austin, Texas, on April 12, 1986. Many of the songs performed were from their new album (at the time) ''EVOL Evol may refer t ...
''. ''EVOL'' was released in May 1986 by SST on vinyl and
cassette
Cassette may refer to:
Technology
* Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback
** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...
. The band toured Europe in May and June, performing tracks from the album (although "In the Kingdom #19" and "Bubblegum" were never played live). The band also debuted "White Kross", which was later featured on ''Sister''. Following the European tour, they toured America in June and July.
In July, the band released the only single from ''EVOL'', "Starpower". It was backed by "Bubblegum" and an edited version of "Expressway to Yr. Skull". A video was never released for "Starpower". However, a video for "Shadow of a Doubt" was released, directed by
Kevin Kerslake
Kevin Kerslake is an American filmmaker and photographer. He has directed documentaries on Joan Jett ('' Bad Reputation''), DJ AM (''As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM''), The Ramones (''We're Outta Here!''), Nirvana (''Live! Tonight! Sold Out! ...
and featuring Gordon sitting on a train. After the tour, the band recorded the ''
Made in USA
A Made in USA mark is a country of origin label affixed to homegrown, American-made products that indicates the product is "all or virtually all" domestically produced, manufactured and assembled in the United States of America. The label is regu ...
'' soundtrack, but it was not released until 1995. ''EVOL'' was released on CD in late 1986.
Critical reception
''EVOL'' has been well received by critics.
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
, with whom the band had sparred in previous years, gave the album a B+.
It ranked number 4 among the "Albums of the Year" by ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''. ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'', who placed ''EVOL'' at number 82 on their Best Albums of the 1980s list, described it as "one of
onic Youth'sstrangest albums" and "a difficult album that's nonetheless one of the best latter-day invocations of
no wave chaos."
''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' described the album as "the true departure point of Sonic Youth's musical evolution – in measured increments,
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...
and
Lee Ranaldo
Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...
began to bring form to the formless, tune to the tuneless, and with the help of Steve Shelley's drums, they imposed melody and composition on their trademark dissonance." Pitchfork went on to say that ''EVOL'' "
aswhere the seeds of greatness were sown",
and placed it 31st on their list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.
''
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...
'' labeled it "a near-masterpiece",
and
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
gave it a 4.5-star review, writing that ''EVOL'' is "a stunningly fluent mixture of avant-garde instrumentation and subversions of rock & roll."
Track listing
:
Note: "Expressway to Yr. Skull" was listed on the back cover as "Madonna, Sean and Me" and on the lyric sheet as "The Crucifixion of Sean Penn".
:
Note: "Secret Girl" was listed as "Secret Girls" on the inner label of the LP release.
Personnel
Sonic Youth
*
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...
– vocals, guitar,
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
,
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
*
Kim Gordon
Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...
– vocals, bass guitar, guitar,
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
("Shadow of a Doubt"), production
*
Lee Ranaldo
Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...
– guitar, vocals, production, sleeve photography
*
Steve Shelley
Steven Jay Shelley (born June 23, 1962) is an American drummer. He is best known as the longtime drummer of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, for whom he played from 1985 until their 2011 disbandment.
Biography
Shelley was born in Midland, ...
– drums,
programming, production
Guest musicians
*
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter.
Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...
– bass guitar ("In the Kingdom #19", "Bubblegum")
Production
*
Martin Bisi
Martin Bisi (born 1961) is an American producer and songwriter.
He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, The Dresden Dolls, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Ang ...
– production,
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
* JG (John Golden) –
mastering
Release history
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Sonic Youth albums
1986 albums
SST Records albums
Albums produced by Martin Bisi
DGC Records albums
Blast First albums
Au Go Go Records albums
Noise rock albums by American artists