Editing Sonic Youth (section)

=== Early releases: 1982–1985 ===
Branca signed Sonic Youth as the first act on his record label [[Neutral Records]]. In December 1981, the group recorded five songs at New York's [[Radio City Music Hall]]. The material was released as the EP ''[[Sonic Youth (EP)|Sonic Youth]]'' which'','' while largely ignored, was sent to a few key members of the American music press, who gave it uniformly favorable reviews.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=237}} The album featured a relatively conventional post-punk style, in contrast to their later releases. Edson then quit the group for an acting career<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edson |first=Richard |date=2015-11-29 |title=Growing up in Sonic Youth |url=https://www.salon.com/2015/11/28/growing_up_in_sonic_youth_partner/ |access-date=2021-05-21 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref> and was replaced by [[Bob Bert]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Volohov |first=Danil |date=July 6, 2019 |title=One man's noise is another man's symphony! |url=https://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/interviews/bob-bert-pussy-galore-lydia-lunch-retrovirus-ex-sonic-youth-2019/ |access-date=2021-05-21 |website=www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be |language=en}}</ref>

During their early days as part of the New York music scene, Sonic Youth formed a friendship with fellow New York noise rock band [[Swans (band)|Swans]].{{sfn|Browne|2008|p=83-86}} The bands shared a rehearsal space, and Sonic Youth embarked on its first tour in November 1982 supporting Swans.{{sfn|Browne|2008|p=86-89}} During a second tour with Swans the following month, tensions ran high and Moore constantly criticized Bert's drumming, which he felt was not "in the pocket".{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=241}} Bert was fired afterwards{{sfn|Browne|2008|p=89-90}} and replaced by [[Jim Sclavunos]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Quietus {{!}} Features {{!}} At Leisure {{!}} At Leisure: Jim Sclavunos Of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds On Tiki Cocktails|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/24844-jim-sclavunos-nick-cave-the-bad-seeds-interview-tiki-cocktail|access-date=2021-05-21|website=The Quietus|date=June 25, 2018 |language=en-us}}</ref> who played drums on the band's first studio album, 1983's ''[[Confusion Is Sex]]'', which featured a louder and more dissonant sound than their debut EP. Sonic Youth set up a tour of Europe for the summer of 1983. Sclavunos, however, quit the band after only a few months. The group asked Bert to rejoin, and he agreed on the condition that he would not be fired again after the tour's conclusion.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=245}} Bert went on to play on the band's ''[[Kill Yr Idols]]'' EP later in 1983.

Sonic Youth were well received in Europe, but the New York press largely ignored the local [[noise rock]] scene. Eventually, as the press began to take notice of the genre, Sonic Youth was grouped with bands like [[Big Black]], the [[Butthole Surfers]], and [[Pussy Galore (band)|Pussy Galore]] under the "pigfucker" label by ''[[Village Voice]]'' editor [[Robert Christgau]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=March 3, 1987 |title=Township Jive Conquers the World: The 13th (or 14th) Annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pj86.php |newspaper=[[Village Voice]]}}</ref> Another critic from ''The Village Voice'' panned a substandard September concert in New York.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} Gordon wrote a scornful letter to the newspaper, criticizing it for not supporting its local music scene, to which Christgau responded that the paper was not obligated to support them. Moore retaliated by renaming the song "[[Kill Yr Idols]]" to "I Killed Christgau with My Big Fucking Dick", before the two eventually sorted out their differences amicably.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=246}}

Closing a second European tour in late 1983, Sonic Youth's disastrous London debut saw the band's equipment malfunction and Moore destroying it onstage in frustration.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fox |first=Killian |date=2007-09-02 |title=No, you're not daydreaming... |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/sep/02/popandrock1 |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> When they returned to New York they were so popular that they were able to book local gigs regularly.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=248}} The following year, Moore and Gordon were married, and Sonic Youth recorded ''[[Bad Moon Rising (album)|Bad Moon Rising]]'', a self-described "[[Americana (music)|Americana]]" album that served as a reaction to the state of the nation at the time.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=250}} The album, recorded by [[Martin Bisi]], was built around transitional pieces that Moore and Ranaldo had come up with in order to take up time onstage during tuning breaks;{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=248}} as a result, there are almost no gaps between the songs on the records. ''Bad Moon Rising'' featured an appearance by [[Lydia Lunch]] in "[[Death Valley '69]]", which was inspired by the [[Charles Manson]] Family murders.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-30|title=Intense Humming Of Evil - 10 tracks that reference Charles Manson|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/intense-humming-of-evil-10-tracks-that-reference-charles-manson-48034|access-date=2021-05-21|website=NME|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Due to a falling-out with Branca over disputed royalty payments from their Neutral releases, Sonic Youth signed with [[Homestead Records]] in the US and [[Blast First]] in the UK (which founder [[Paul Smith (music industry)|Paul Smith]] created simply so he could distribute the band's records in Europe).{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=252}} While the New York press ignored ''Bad Moon Rising'' upon its 1985 release, now viewing the band as too arty and pretentious, Sonic Youth gained critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, where the new album sold 5,000 copies.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|pp=252–253}}

Claiming he was bored with playing ''Bad Moon Rising'' live in its entirety for over a year, Bert quit the group and was replaced by [[Steve Shelley]], formerly of the [[punk rock|punk]] group [[the Crucifucks]]. Sonic Youth was so impressed with Shelley's drumming after seeing him play live that they hired him without an audition.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=258}} Bert and Shelley both appeared in the music video for "Death Valley '69", as Bert had performed the drums on the song, but Shelley was the group's drummer when the video was filmed.