Sonic Youth Sign to Matador Records, Prep 2009 Album

The biggest free agents in indie rock have found a new home, as Sonic Youth will release their next album on Matador Records. Sonic Youth were previously on DGC/Geffen from 1990's Goo until 2006's Rather Ripped, but as Thurston Moore told Rolling Stone recently, the band looked forward to "returning to the indie world again." They'll do so on Matador, home of Stephen Malkmus, Yo La Tengo and Cat Power and onetime label of artists like Pavement, Liz Phair and Teenage Fanclub. Moore also told RS that so far he's written "a half-dozen song ideas" for the band's sixteenth studio album, due out "sometime in 2009." The band also recently premiered two new songs at a concert in Brooklyn. "For Matador, the opportunity to work in partnership with a group who've made such an profound impact on our roster/hometown/collective consciousness was one to jump at," the label said in a statement.

Related Stories:
• Sonic Youth Back in the Studio, Close to Signing With New Label
• Sonic Youth Say "Goodbye 20th Century" In New Biography, Plus Photos
• Talk Show Flashback: Sonic Youth Talk No Wave Down Under

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter