Daydream Nation

Daydream Nation (1988) recorded by Sonic Youth, and written about by Matthew Stearns, is one of those seminal albums that led to the modern rock explosion. Or as one documentary, "the year that punk broke." It's funny but I didn't realized that it was a double album, since I had it on CD, but that seems significant as they were playing with classic rock traditions in their conception of the album as Stearns points out. There are Led Zepplin-like Germanic symbols on the sleeve and contains a song trilogy, but was more in the vein of double albums from the likes of SST bands like The Minute Men (Double Nickels On The Dime) and Husker Du (Zen Arcade).  Pitchfork called it the best album of the 80s and in 2006 the US Library of Congress added it to the permanent archives of the National Recording registry deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important," and which "informs or reflects life in the US." Stearns does a good job of providing background information and clues about the genesis of the songs as well as their meanings. "Teenage Riot" is famously about J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., but I had no idea that "Silver Rocket" was inspired by Andy Warhol and is so oblique in its lyrics. It was interesting to hear that "Sprawl" was said to be influenced by Kim Gordon's reading choices, which included Southern gothic writer Harry Crews and William Gibson's tech-punk Sprawl trilogy: Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988). And "Eric Trip" was inspired by a character in an Andy Warhol film, Eric Emerson in Chelsea Girls. "Hey Joni" was inspired by Joni Mitchell and Jimi Page ("Hey Joe"). And the complete phone message from Mike Watt (The Minutemen and firehose) and back story was recounted for "Providence." Again I enjoyed revisiting the album and learned to appreciate it more for the experience.