Sister
by Sonic Youth

They are much better here than on Evol and their cemented their original sound. Still I can hear influences (mainly TVU and Joy Division), but not as obviously. I don't typically enjoy noise rock, but the track structure here is enjoyable for me, I was a little tired of noise by the end of the album, but not as much as I thought I would be. I really like Schizophrenia, White Cross and Catholic Block.

I felt a little underwhelmed when I listen to this and I found myself drifting out of the record quite a lot. I think this is because all the brilliant tracks come in the first 6 or 7 songs and after that it feels like quite a slog to the end. Despite this, it has some of my favourite SY songs on here such as Schizophrenia which is the exact sound I think they were going for on this release. They do lose the consistency on here and I find the tone isn't as focused as it is at the beginning. Overall, there are some bangers on here which are some of the best SY has to offer but I find it to be quite messy at times and I think they refine their sound on future releases.

From Jboy56 02/15/2022 09:15 | #281321

Too Sonic Chaos for my morning mood.

From seb7 01/03/2022 22:28 | #278538

some hard hitting bangers and extremely good pacing. Might just be might favorite SY album.

I prefer this to Daydream Nation actually. This is as close to perfect noise rock ever got. The best Sonic Youth album

From teague 04/20/2020 23:00 | #250293

Great album. Don't know why it took me 7 years after hearing Dirty and Goo to listen to this, but I'm glad I eventually did. Schizophrenia is a noise rock anthem.

Good album, a little too much filler.

From DeusExMackia 08/16/2018 20:12 | #219758

A savagely good record.

Sonic Youth's "screw you mom", flannel shirt wearing, ever-so-slightly-edgy teenage phase. More accomplished than previous works, but less monumental and less polished than what would follow, meaning it delivers that rough, bitter taste that made this era of SY so damn good in absolute spades.

It takes time and consideration to be appreciated, but beneath its raw, feedback-driven and strangely subtle overtone is a beautiful creation that strings together the last remains of punk and post-punk, with hints of alt rock and art rock, all of which is brought together in a tumultuous 40-something-minute record. Not an easy album to listen to, but one that - like much of Sonic Youth's discography - is extremely satisfying.

From Brad1770 07/15/2018 06:05 | #218272

Loosely based as a concept album inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K.Dick , Sister is album number 3 in the SY holy 5 (Bad Moon Rising into Evol into Sister into DDN into Goo)

Sister is a masterful release that rightfully received its due critical praise many years after its original release . Tracks such as "Schizophrenia" , "Beauty Lies in the Eye" and "Pacific Coast Highway " are SY classics and among their best pieces in a stellar career

My only criticism would be the inclusion of the Crime cover "Hot Wire My Heart" , it really doesn't fit into the over all flow of the album plus quite frankly down right sucks , I always skip past this track

I will always argue 'Evol' was Sonic Youth's first truly great album , but 'Sister' is just , only just behind it

Tense

80/100

While never painful, the album does not veer into experimentation extreme enough to pay off.