Sonic Youth – Hold That Tiger 2LP

Description

**Live 1987 Chicago!!

Double LP version. “In October 1987, four months after the release of their critically acclaimedSisterLP,Sonic Youthshowcased their latest work in a blistering set at Cabaret Metro, Chicago. The concert was introduced byBig Black‘sSteve Albini(who at the time was banned from the venue) and subsequently released as a semi-official bootleg under the titleHold That Tigeron writer/provocateurByron Coley‘s impishly Geffen-baiting label Goofin’ (years later the band would use this nom de guerre for their own imprint).Hold That Tiger‘s sterling reputation among the Sonic Youth faithful is well deserved. In fact, it isn’t a stretch to suggest that the album is to the first handful of SY releases whatIt’s Aliveis to the first threeRamonesLPs — a feral and liberatory public snapshot of a band’s blossoming imperial phase. Indeed,HTTis the sound of a group at the peak of their powers, presenting new songs alongside a handful of older ones with the kind of wild, cathartic enthusiasm common to rock ‘n’ roll’s most revered live albums. Taking nothing away fromSister— inarguably one of indie rock’s first true masterpieces — it is reasonable that many fans prefer the live versions heard onHold That Tigerto their studio counterparts. OnHTT, Sonic Youth is a spiky, pummeling and confident force, alternately mammoth and meditative.Sisterand its predecessorEVOLnotably added an airy, dreamlike reverie to the band’s turbulent doom-lurch, a stylistic evolution that seems to crystallize onHTT. Throughout,Kim Gordon‘s sinewy, sumptuous bass andSteve Shelley‘s propulsive, tom-heavy percussion provide the bedrock groove forThurston MooreandLee Ranaldo‘s ferocious barrages of noise-guitar crunch. By 1987, the band was confidently articulating their dual lexicon of punk-noir dissonance and supernal, psychedelic sonic calligraphy — bending their jagged, streetwise gnarl into balloon animals of dazzling and beautiful songs. This collision of splendor and chaos would become a hallmark of the group’s singular alchemy as well as provide a blueprint for the post-SST American underground they would help invent and ultimately nurture.Hold That Tiger‘s encore — four songs by the band’s beloved Ramones, which Thurston would later astutely compare to ‘the perfect pudding after a hearty meal’ — serves as a reminder that, like any true punks, Sonic Youth never could resist a good, rousing anthem to send the kids home with their ears ringing, their hearts hot-wired. This first-time reissue comes with gatefold jacket. Mastered byBob Westonfrom the original tapes. Recorded byAadam Jacobs. Audio repair/editing byAaron Mullan.”