Washing Machine

Product Information

Excellent record, but before we get to that I'd just like to throw it out there that you guys don't know what the hell you want. Some of the people who go apeshit for "The Diamond Sea" (even though, let's be honest here, that cut doesn't really have anywhere to explore after the nine-minute mark and just turns into some pleasant-but-not-really-mind-blowing noise ambience from thereon) are the same people who outright dismiss A Thousand Leaves, which was like a whole album of "Diamond Sea"s — with ideas that actually kept coming through the long song lengths! I daresay Washing Machine might have the more favorable reputation because it's not a very challenging album: most of the songs are fuelled, rather slowly, by mechanical three-note hooks and throbbing one-chord crescendos, and though that isn't a bad thing by any means (and it usually works quite poignantly in these songs) it isn't as impressive as the damn-near symphonic interplay of Leaves. "Washing Machine" and "The Diamond Sea" are terrific achievements of guitar interplay, but compare their noisy catharses to the noisy catharses of "Wild Flower Soul" or "Karen Koltrane" and they seem almost phoned-in. Though not executed quite as extremely as on the previous 2 albums, Lee and Thurston's guitars are once again isolated to their own speakers -- Lee is in the left, Thurston is in the right. The final movement begins with the crash and burn guitar chord at the end of Untitled and Skip Tracer sees a wonderful introduction to the great Diamond Sea.

a b "Washing Machine - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. Every person on earth has, at some point, wanted to be someone else. We’ve all had one or more of those days – the ones that make you want to drop all of your emotional baggage in a deep, deep lake and abscond to a place where you become an unmeasured quantity; no history, no relationships by which to be defined, no preconceived notions that expose your bullshit and describe you to a T.

Contributions

a b c d Browne, David (September 25, 1995). "Washing Machine". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. a b c d e Moon, Tom (October 19, 1995). "Washing Machine". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. Washing Machine is the continuation of Sonic Youth’s 1994 Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. After the Experimental Jet Set, the band decided to make a hiatus from performing live and focusing on several side projects. Moore and Gordon also had their first child, Coco. According to Moore, their daughter provided a different perspective for the band. The album was released the following week, after which they embarked on yet another tour in October/November. This time around, the venues were comfortable theatres and clubs, but the set list variation was not affected. While on a 2-day, 3-show stop in NYC, they performed "The Diamond Sea" on another TV show, "The State". The sonic tour wheel did not stop spinning -- an Australian/New Zealand tour in late December took them into the new year, followed by a brief tour of some new territory (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Phillipines, and Hong Kong) with the Foo Fighters and the Beastie Boys. Less than 2 months later, they were on the road again, for the first real Washing Machine European tour, in March and April. Upon their return home, they made another TV appearance, their first on Late Night w/ Conan O'Brien. They did not, however, play current single "Little Trouble Girl", instead they tore through a furious version of "Junkie's Promise". After 2 more stray shows, they slowed down a bit -- though they did make their first of 3 consecutive annual appearances at the Tibetan Freedom Concert, on June 16th, 1996 in San Francisco. They performed only 4 songs, the inseparable "Bull in the Heather"/"Starfield Road" combo, "Saucer-Like", and a lengthy version of "The Diamond Sea" (which was the standard set closer at virtually every show in '95 and '96). In August '96 they travelled to Hungary and Israel for the first time, and finished this 6-date tour at the Reading Festival in England. After one more show in Spain in November, Sonic Youth's extremely busy 2 years of touring was finished, and the band took a well-deserved break from serious touring in 1997, free to focus on their new studio and a slew of new recordings. Say what you want about Kim, who gives the band substance, and Lee who gives the band consistency and at least one great song an album, Thurston Moore is the heart and soul of this band and gives the band every single ounce of coolness that emanates from The Diamond Sea, and Washing Machine.

The Diamond Sea". Sonicyouth.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012 . Retrieved July 6, 2014.a b "Sonic Youth". Ultratop.be. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012 . Retrieved July 14, 2014. a b Ali, Lorraine (September 24, 1995). "Fall Album Roundup". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. Sonic Youth - The Diamond Sea". MTV. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014 . Retrieved July 6, 2014.

a b Schnipper, Matthew (May 9, 2019). "Sonic Youth: Washing Machine". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019 . Retrieved May 9, 2019.For more information on songs (including lyrics, who played what, when the songs were first and last performed, and other trivia), please visit the Song Database.

a b Christgau, Robert (October 24, 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. a b "Sonic Youth". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012 . Retrieved July 14, 2014. Kot, Greg; Leland, John; Sheridan, David; Robbins, Ira; Pattyn, Jay. "Sonic Youth". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. Sonic Youth Rule At Lollapalooza '95". MTV. July 7, 1995. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014 . Retrieved July 6, 2014. It was so great to be out of NY recording somewhere else. Things were relaxed there . We ate a lot of barbeque from Payne's. I can't believe the record ever got recorded. It's one of my favorite's. Coko was about 8 months old. She met her first Elvis impersonator there. - KG"

Catalog

Outside this emphatically on-brand excursion, Thurston Moore seethes with defiantly snarky tough love ( Junkie’s Promise), but also coos sweetly ( Unwind). Lee Ranaldo slays in his semi-featured role as a vocalist (the dreamy Saucer-Like and the nebbish spoken word tough-guy-ism of Skip Tracer). Kim Gordon offers breathy declarations ( Becuz), and punkish snarls ( Panty Lies), while also displaying a well-calibrated fragility to embody a teen girl through the sprechgesang plea for an honest relationship with her mother ( Little Trouble Girl).