Episode 138 is live, and the wheel has spoken! This week on the Rock Roulette Podcast, we’re diving into Sonic Youth’s debut album Confusion Is Sex. Does this raw and noisy 1983 release set the stage for their legendary career? Tune in to hear our take!
Confusion Is Sex is the debut studio album by American noise rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in 1983 by Neutral Records. It has been referred to as an important example of the no wave genre. AllMusic called it “lo-fi to the point of tonal drabness, as the instruments seem to ring out in only one tone, that of screechy noise”.
Confusion Is Sex was recorded by Wharton Tiers in his Chelsea studio (which he had set up in the basement of a building where he worked as a superintendent). It was mostly recorded during Jim Sclavunos’ brief tenure as drummer for the band, and he appears on drums for most of the album. As the sessions drew to a close, Sclavunos chose to quit and Bob Bert was invited back. Bert appeared on “Making the Nature Scene” and the live Stooges cover “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. Confusion Is Sex is the only Sonic Youth album on which guitarist Lee Ranaldo plays bass, specifically on the song “Protect Me You”.
The lyrics to “The World Looks Red” were written by Michael Gira of the band Swans, who would later reuse the same lyrics on the song “The World Looks Red/The World Looks Black” on that band’s 2016 album The Glowing Man.
Ranaldo recorded the track “Lee Is Free” solo at home on two tape recorders
Sonic Youth
Kim Gordon – vocals, bass guitar, guitar, production
Thurston Moore – vocals, guitar, prepared guitar, bass guitar, production
Lee Ranaldo – guitar, bass guitar, zither (“Inhuman”), production
Jim Sclavunos – drums, production (all tracks except 8 and 10–13)
Bob Bert – drums, production (tracks 3, 8, and 10–13)
Production
Wharton Tiers – production, engineering
John Erskine – engineering assistance
Intro Music/Wheel Spin Music by LiteSaturation from Pixabay
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