What a day for a 'Daydream'

In 1988, the traditional rock lineup of two guitars, bass and drums was dead. At the tail end of this decade of hair metal excess, Sonic Youth came crashing into the forefront of the rock scene with the release of their magnum opus Daydream Nation. \nInstead of rock's prescribed roles of lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bassist and drummer, Sonic Youth opted for noise guitarist, noise guitarist, noise bassist and noise drummer. Utilizing alternate tunings and foreign objects jammed under the frets of the guitars, the band created lush textures never before heard in the world of popular rock music.\nDaydream Nation is steeped in pop punk sensibility of the Ramones, the garage rock density of the Stooges and the noise experiments of Velvet Underground and Glenn Branca. On nearly every track, Kim Gordon and Steve Shelley's hypnotic bass and drum grooves are flushed out by Thurston Moore or Lee Ranaldo's primal screams on guitar. The guitar noises on this album are difficult to comprehend by today's standards. Yet, at no point do the noise jams on this album become self-indulgent or difficult to listen to.\nDaydream Nation's catchiness is its most perplexing quality. Even the most experimental moments are melodic in conception. At times, the band seems like it's trying to destroy their instruments, but in reality it's more like they are forcefully ripping every shred of sound out them. This is noise you hum.\n"Teenage Riot," "Eric's Trip" and "Kissability" stand out as wonderful experiments in fusing noise and pop. "Teenage Riot," the unofficial anthem of generation X, embodies everything about the era of Lollapalooza. The extended jams on "Silver Rocket" and "The Sprawl" are revolutionary by today's standards. Still, "The Sprawl" has one of the most melodic breakdowns of any song in the history of rock. \nSonic Youth reconciles the dichotomy between consonant harmonies and discordant noise. Daydream Nation is the result of this unlikely pairing. The album sounds as if it could have been recorded this year. Without a doubt, it still would have been a groundbreaking success.