Hold That Tiger

Description

In October 1987, four months after the release of their critically acclaimed Sister LP, Sonic Youth showcased their latest work in a blistering set at Cabaret Metro, Chicago. The concert was introduced by Big Blacks Steve Albini (who at the time was banned from the venue) and subsequently released as a semi-official bootleg under the title Hold That Tiger on writer/provocateur Byron Coleys impishly Geffen-baiting label Goofin (years later the band would use this nom de guerre for their own imprint).

Hold That Tigers sterling reputation among the Sonic Youth faithful is well deserved. In fact, it isnt a stretch to suggest that the album is to the first handful of SY releases what Its Alive is to the first three Ramones LPsa feral and liberatory public snapshot of a bands blossoming imperial phase. Indeed, HTT is 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 rolls most revered live albums.

Taking nothing away from Sisterinarguably one of indie rocks f irst true masterpiecesit is reasonable that many fans prefer the live versions heard on Hold That Tiger to their studio counterparts. On HTT, Sonic Youth is a spiky, pummeling and confident force, alternately mammoth and meditative. Sister and its predecessor EVOL notably added an airy, dreamlike reverie to the bands turbulent doom-lurch, a stylistic evolution that seems to crystallize on HTT. Throughout, Kim Gordons sinewy, sumptuous bass and Steve Shelleys propulsive, tom-heavy percussion provide the bedrock groove for Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldos ferocious barrages of noise-guitar crunch.

By 1987, the band was confidently articulating their dual lexicon of punk-noir dissonance and supernal, psychedelic sonic calligraphybending their jagged, streetwise gnarl into balloon animals of dazzling and beautiful songs. This collision of splendor and chaos would become a hallmark of the groups singular alchemy as well as provide a blueprint for the post-SST American underground they would help invent and ultimately nurture.

Hold That Tigers encorefour songs by the bands beloved Ramones, which Thurston would later astutely compare to the perfect pudding after a hearty mealserves 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 by Bob Weston from the orginal tapes. Recorded by Aadam Jacobs. Audio repair/editing by Aaron Mullan.