Sonic Youth’s “Walls Have Ears” Gets a Proper Home on Band’s Label Goofin’

Three days across the UK in the year of 1985, the band occupied a rare caravan of hysteria as they burned a deep, rich smoke from collapsed lungs of poetic righteousness, radical feedback death chants, metaphysical memories and instrumentation apocalypse. This was the second time the band planted their historic metallic flag into the countries frozen soil and one of the last times the mighty Bob Bert would play live with the band. A sprawling bomb shelter riddled with shimmering shrapnel and chrome tinted confetti that covered the mid-point of the decade at the time, this double LP is an explosive testament to the band’s chemistry as they highlight the wholesome, atomic energy that pours from their legendary gear and into the rare ears of its eager listeners. There is an unlimited amount of moments of true exceptional human expression throughout this visceral and beautiful body of work. Split like some panicked atom between both percussionists Bob Bert and the oncoming Steve Shelley, “Walls Have Ears” is a wonderful representation of both of these incredible artists as they thrive in the mudded sun. The big bad moon slowly eclipses the earth covering the band in a sometimes silver, yellow and holy green glow.

With ballistic material that stretches across the band’s previous works such as 1981’s debut, “Confusion is Sex (Plus Kill Yr Idols)”, “Bad Moon Rising” and the oncoming roar of 1986’s “Evol”, the band was truly coming into its own during this time. Balancing the fascinating expectations of textbook Armageddon and a Saturday night buzz, Sonic Youth truly embodied the soundtrack that completed the ongoing freakout of middle aged hippies, Ram Das rejects and the new youth of the world that had begun to take over in the mid to late 70s. With tracks such as “Burning Spear”, “Ghost Bitch”, “Green Light”, and the ultimate classic “Expressway to Yr. Skull”, this collection of songs are complex, permanent and achieve an effortless stroke of manipulated mantras, murdered and mastered between four incredibly unique and devastatingly talented artists. For the first time in almost 40 years, the legendary bootleg known as “Walls Have Ears” is finally getting a proper homecoming on the band’s own label Goofin’ (a play on “Goo” and Geffen Records) and is set for worldwide release on February 9th, 2024.