Dirty

Dirty
Sonic Youth
Geffen Records
Available on CD and cassette
Reviewed by Steve Bavaro

Dirty, the eighth album from the US thrash/grunge quartet Sonic Youth, maintains the group's focus on important social issues. On their 1990 album, Goo, they dealt with questions including anorexia and male chauvinism.

On Dirty, In “Swimsuit Issue”, bass player/vocalist Kim Gordon tackles sexual harassment in the workplace, while in “Youth Against Fascism”, Thurston Moore sings about the alienation of youth from the political process in the USA, and about xenophobia and sexism.

Another track, “Chapel Hill”, is named after a college town in North Carolina notorious for redneck attitudes. Dirty reflects the ability of many grunge and non-mainstream acts to come to grips with issues and causes that other self-declared “socially conscious” bands shy away from.

This article was posted on the Green Left Weekly Home Page.
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