As one of the founding fathers of alternative rock, former Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore has more understanding than most of the genre’s formative years. One area that he is particularly well-versed in is that of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.
Notably, the late Nirvana leader Cobain was open about his deep admiration for Sonic Youth. He named the New York band’s consequential 1988 effort Daydream Nation in his extensive list of favourite albums. Famously, there was also shared kinship between the members of Nirvana and Sonic Youth, and when they toured together in 1991 before Nirvana’s breakout masterpiece Nevermind arrived, their mutual bonds were forged.
In her enlightening memoir, Girl in a Band, Sonic Youth bassist and vocalist Kim Gordon writes: “Kurt was funny and fun to be around, and soaked up any kind of personal attention. I felt very big sisterly, almost maternal, when we were together.” Also sharing the same form of humour, in a tribute to the Washington trio, Sonic Youth covered their bizarre track ‘Moist Vagina’.
Due to this close relationship, the members of Sonic Youth have often looked back on the life of the late Cobain – who committed suicide in April 1994 – and what he and his band meant to the world. This is also a subject that Moore covers in depth in his new memoir, Sonic Life. Speaking to Mojo, the guitarist was asked if, when writing the book, he rediscovered anything about his friendship with Cobain, as at one point in it, he focuses heavily on Nirvana. In response, Moore offered a compelling account of Nirvana’s brilliance, saying they “stood alone”.
He said: “I don’t know if it elucidated anything more than what actually happened, which was this turning of the culture on its ear and offering it to the rest of the world. However, it wasn’t as if bands like Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, The Jesus Lizard or whatever bands Kurt was associated with were going to become the next big thing.”
Moore concluded: “In the end it was all these bands none of us had ever worked with on the road, like Stone Temple Pilots or Pearl Jam – because they were making the music more accessible. Around this time, we had an A&R person at Geffen saying, ‘You guys can be the Pink Floyd of the underground’. I was, like, ‘No, we can’t’. I realised that would be false. Nirvana stood alone – just this charmed thing.”
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Watch Nirvana and Sonic Youth hanging out alone.
