Death Valley '69

Last updated
"Death Valley '69"
Death Valley '69 1984 cover.jpg
Single by Sonic Youth featuring Lydia Lunch
from the album Bad Moon Rising
B-side "Brave Men Run (In My Family)"
ReleasedDecember 1984
RecordedJuly 1984
Genre Noise rock, no wave
Label Iridescence
Songwriter(s) Robert Bertelli, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, , Lydia Lunch
Producer(s) Sonic Youth, Clint Ruin
Sonic Youth singlesingles chronology
"Death Valley '69"
(1984)
"Flower"
(1985)
Death Valley '69
Death Valley '69 1985 cover.jpg
EP by
Sonic Youth featuring Lydia Lunch
ReleasedJune 1985
Genre Noise rock, no wave
Label Blast First, Homestead
Sonic Youth EP chronology
Kill Yr Idols
(1983)
''Death Valley '69''
(1985)
Master=Dik
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Robert Christgau D [2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

"Death Valley '69" is a song by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth and featuring Lydia Lunch. The song was written and sung by Thurston Moore and fellow New York musician Lunch, and recorded by Martin Bisi in 1984.

Contents

A demo version of the song was released in December 1984 on Iridescence Records. A re-recorded version was released in EP format with different artwork in June 1985; this version was featured on their second studio album, Bad Moon Rising .

Music video

The video for "Death Valley '69" was filmed in 1985 and was the first music video by Sonic Youth, directed by Judith Barry and Richard Kern. [4] The video features the majority of the band in various states of bloody dismemberment interlaced with live footage of the band. It also stars alternative model Lung Leg.

The video is the only one by Sonic Youth to feature drummers Bob Bert and Steve Shelley. Bert recorded the drum parts for the song, but amicably quit the band and was replaced by Shelly by the time the video was recorded.

Critical reception

The song was ranked number 10 among the "Tracks of the Year" for 1985 by NME . [5]

Byron Coley of Spin called it, "a creepy-crawl through Spahn Ranch with guest howls by the Love Kitten of the Hate Generation" [6] John Leland said the band, "massaged their guitars with drumsticks and screwdrivers. This is an art band playing straight up—kicking the shit out of a hairy, Stooges-type riff with no thought to subtleties. The lyrics spiral in fragments off the homicidal side of either Flannery O'Connor or benzedrine." [7]

Cover versions

Soundgarden included a sample of the song on the track Smokestack Lightning from the band's Ultramega OK album in 1988. [8]

The italian comedy punk band Karashow included a 1'39" version of the song in their 2009 release "Killer HH".

Track listing

1984 version
  1. "Death Valley '69" – 5:32
  2. "Brave Men Run (In My Family)" – 3:48
1985 version
  1. "Death Valley '69"
  2. "I Dream I Dreamed"
  3. "Inhuman"
  4. "Brother James"
  5. "Satan Is Boring"

Personnel

Sonic Youth
Additional personnel
Technical

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonic Youth</span> American rock band (1981–2011)

Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City and formed in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, rounding out the core line-up. Jim O'Rourke was also a member of the band from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold was a member from 2006 to 2011.

<i>Daydream Nation</i> 1988 studio album by Sonic Youth

Daydream Nation is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on October 18, 1988. The band recorded the album between July and August 1988 at Greene St. Recording in New York City, and it was released by Enigma Records as a double album.

<i>A Thousand Leaves</i> 1998 studio album by Sonic Youth

A Thousand Leaves is the tenth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on CD and cassette on May 12, 1998, by DGC Records. A double-LP vinyl issue had been released three weeks earlier on My So Called Records. It was the band's first album recorded at their own studio in Lower Manhattan, which was built with the money they had made at the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. Since the band had an unlimited amount of time to work in their studio, the album features numerous lengthy and improvisational tracks that were developed unevenly. The highly experimental extended plays Anagrama, Slaapkamers met slagroom, and Invito al ĉielo were recorded simultaneously with the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydia Lunch</span> American singer

Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no wave scene as the singer and guitarist of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.

<i>Sister</i> (Sonic Youth album) 1987 album by Sonic Youth

Sister is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released in June 1987 on SST Records. The album continued the band's move away from the no wave movement towards more traditional alternative rock song structures, while maintaining an experimental approach.

<i>Sonic Youth</i> (EP) 1982 EP by Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is the debut EP by American rock band Sonic Youth. It was recorded between December 1981 and January 1982 and released in March 1982 by Glenn Branca's Neutral label. It is the only recording featuring the early Sonic Youth lineup with Richard Edson on drums. Sonic Youth differs stylistically from the band's later work in its greater incorporation of clean guitars, standard tuning, crisp production and a post-punk style.

<i>Confusion Is Sex</i> Album by Sonic Youth

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".

<i>Evol</i> (Sonic Youth album) Album by Sonic Youth

EVOL is the third full-length studio album by the American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Released in May 1986, EVOL was Sonic Youth’s first album on SST Records, and also the first album to feature then-new drummer Steve Shelley who had just replaced Bob Bert.

<i>SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century</i> 1999 studio album by Sonic Youth

SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century is an album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It is a double album of versions of pieces by avant-garde composers, performed by Sonic Youth and collaborators.

<i>NYC Ghosts & Flowers</i> 2000 studio album by Sonic Youth

NYC Ghosts & Flowers is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on May 16, 2000 by DGC Records. The highly experimental album is considered to be a reaction to the theft of the band's instruments in July 1999, when several irreplaceable guitars and effects pedals were stolen. NYC Ghosts & Flowers was the first album since Bad Moon Rising in which the band used prepared guitar.

<i>The Whitey Album</i> 1988 studio album by Ciccone Youth

The Whitey Album is an album by Ciccone Youth, a side project of Sonic Youth members Steve Shelley, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore, featuring contributions from Minutemen/Firehose member Mike Watt and J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.

<i>Kill Yr Idols</i> 1983 EP by Sonic Youth

Kill Yr Idols is an EP by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in October 1983, originally only in Germany, by record label Zensor.

<i>Screaming Fields of Sonic Love</i> 1995 compilation album by Sonic Youth

Screaming Fields of Sonic Love is a compilation album of songs culled from Sonic Youth's various releases from the 1980s. It was released in 1995 on DGC.

<i>Stinkfist</i> (EP) 1987 EP by Clint Ruin and Lydia Lunch

Stinkfist is a collaborative EP by Clint Ruin and Lydia Lunch. This outing from the ex-Immaculate Consumptive bandmates was originally released as a 12" in 1987 on Lunch's Widowspeak label.

<i>Honeymoon in Red</i> 1988 studio album by Honeymoon in Red

Honeymoon in Red is a concept album by a band of the same name, released in 1988, primarily written by Lydia Lunch and Rowland S. Howard. Honeymoon in Red is sometimes referred to as a band or alternately as a collaboration between Lydia Lunch and members of The Birthday Party.

<i>Spanking Machine</i> 1990 album by Babes in Toyland

Spanking Machine is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Babes in Toyland, released on April 16, 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kool Thing</span> 1990 single by Sonic Youth

"Kool Thing" is a song by American rock band Sonic Youth, released in June 1990 in the United States and September 1990 in Europe, as the first single from their sixth studio album Goo. The song was inspired by an interview bassist/singer Kim Gordon conducted with LL Cool J for Spin. Although he is never mentioned by name, the song's lyrics contain several references to LL Cool J. Gordon's lyrics make reference to several of the rapper's works, including the single "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and the album Walking with a Panther. She also repeats the line "I don't think so", which appears in LL Cool J's "Going Back to Cali". Chuck D also contributed spoken vocals to the song.

<i>Walls Have Ears</i> 1986 live album (bootleg) by Sonic Youth

Walls Have Ears is a Sonic Youth bootleg live recording from 1985. It was released on 2×12″ vinyl in 1986 without the consent of the band.

<i>Master-Dik</i> 1987 EP by Sonic Youth

Master-Dik is the third EP by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released on November 4, 1987, in the United States by record label SST, and on January 22, 1988, in the United Kingdom by label Blast First.

<i>Bad Moon Rising</i> (album) 1985 album by Sonic Youth

Bad Moon Rising is the second studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on March 29, 1985, by Blast First and Homestead Records. The album is loosely themed around the dark side of America, including references to obsession, insanity, Charles Manson, heavy metal, Satanism, and early European settlers' encounters with Native Americans.

References

  1. Birchmeier, Jason. "Death Valley '69 – Sonic Youth | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  2. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Sonic Youth". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  3. "Sonic Youth: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  4. Atkinson, Terry (1987-02-08). "Sound & Vision:'Death Valley '69' Is Hot". Los Angeles Times .
  5. "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME . 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  6. Byron Coley (August 1985). "Sonic Youth". Spin . No. 4. p. 52.
  7. John Leland (November 1985). "Singles". Spin . No. 6. p. 36.
  8. Chick, Stevie (5 November 2009). Chick, Steve. "Psychic Confusion: The Sonic Youth Story". ISBN   9780857120540.