In the world of sellable indie rock, there is a thin line between chaos and bliss. With 1988's Daydream Nation, it was as if Sonic Youth had perfected the art of balancing between the two and, to show the world, plunged headfirst into their own amps.
Like a fine bottle of wine, the album should be ingested whole, but “Teenage Riot,” “Eric’s Trip” and “Trilogy” stand out as the standard bearers of Sonic Youth’s attempted aural uprising. Daydream Nation proves that noise can be beautiful, that the possibilities of two guitars, a bass and a drum set are limitless and that every emotion can be evoked in one stint of skull-shattering crescendos, explosive climaxes and gyrating, foot-stomping grooves.
That’s right — Daydream Nation is mind-blowing sonic sex. Give it a spin and somewhere in the midst of what can only be described as the best lay of your life, you’ll also hear a resounding call for a musical revolution.
